Space, mind, and discursive knowledge
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Two major philosophical debates are explored - one concerning the reality of space, and one concerning the physicality of qualia. What binds these explorations together is a set of observations Kant made concerning incongruent counterparts. Chapter 1 presents a novel reformulation of Kant's attempt to refute the relational theory of space using these observations. I argue that standard relationist replies fail to engage his 'handless body' thought-experiment, by treating the body as enantiomorphic rather than homomorphic. I then present novel relational replies to Kant's argument as properly understood. In Chapter 2 presents a novel refutation of Frank Jackson's Knowledge Argument (KA). I consider the advances made by John Perry and Torin Alter in identifying the 'discursive learnability' assumption central to KA. I show that this 'discursive learnability' criterion for physical facts must be rejected because straightforwardly physical facts about 'parity-violating' phenomena are not discursively learnable, and I substantiate this claim using Kant's observations about incongruent counterparts. Chapter 3 presents a critique of some popular strategies for rejecting KA, including those of David Lewis, Brian Loar, and Daniel Stoljar. I also propose a distinction between two ways that words fail to communicate concepts and knowledge, and suggest that this clarifies the debate concerning KA.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Shanbhag, Praveen Ramesh |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Philosophy. |
| Primary advisor | Friedman, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Friedman, Michael |
| Thesis advisor | Lawlor, Krista |
| Thesis advisor | Perry, John |
| Thesis advisor | Ryckman, Thomas |
| Advisor | Lawlor, Krista |
| Advisor | Perry, John |
| Advisor | Ryckman, Thomas |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Praveen Ramesh Shanbhag. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Philosophy. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2014. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2014 by Praveen Ramesh Shanbhag
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