Mind

Mind Other Minds Can I know what another person is thinking or feeling' If so, how' by Tom Nuttall (tutor: Anthony Rudd) The problem of Other Minds is a true philosophical enigma. It is apt to strike children with no philosophical education whatsoever, yet remains intractable to many academics. Broadly speaking, the problem can be divided into three questions. Firstly, how do I come to believe that there are minds in the world other than my own' Secondly, how can I justify my belief that there are minds in the world other than my own' Thirdly, what can I state about the mental states of minds other than my own'. The question we are dealing with here falls largely into the third category, although of course issues relating to the other two will also be involved. Firstly, it is imperative to assert that, in looking for ‘knowledge’, we are not aiming for logical certainties - we are not aiming to show that any propositions about other minds can be demonstrated with absolute certainty equivalent to that of mathematical truths. Philosophy ever since Descartes has tended to be defined by scepticism: either it aims to produce sceptical theories or it aims to refute them. And sceptics tend towards extremity in their doubts. It must be stated here and now mental, states, minds, own, behaviour, statements, problem, about, argument, am, through, state, seems, others, analogy, say, person, mind, language, certain, case, someone, properties, make, know, angry, whether, thus, similar, philosophers, pain, one, knowledge, criteria, believe, belief