We all seem to be capable of telling what our current states of mind are. At any given moment, we know, for example, what we believe, and what we want. But how do we know that? In Transparent Minds, Jordi Fernandez explains our knowledge of our own propositional attitudes. Drawing on the so-called 'transparency' of belief, he proposes that we attribute beliefs and desires to ourselves based on our grounds for those beliefs and desires. The book argues that this view explains our privileged access to those propositional attitudes. Three applications are drawn from the model of self-knowledge that emerges: a solution to Moore's paradox, an account of the thought-insertion delusion, and an explanation of self-deception. The puzzles raised by all three phenomena can be resolved, Fernandez argues, if we construe them as failures of self-knowledge. The resulting picture of self-knowledge challenges the traditional notion that it is a matter of introspection. For the main tenet of Transparent Minds is that we come to know what we believe and desire by 'looking outward,' and attending to the states of affairs which those beliefs and desires are about.

About the Author
Jordi Fernandez is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Adelaide. His teaching and research interests are in philosophy of mind, epistemology and metaphysics.

Reviews
Few works on introspective self-knowledge cover as much ground as Jordi Fernandez's Transparent Minds . . . Although Fernandez has published quite a few papers on introspection, this book adds further argument, giving an even clearer, and more compelling, picture of his view. He has produced an enjoyable, stimulating contribution to the self-knowledge debate that is well worth reading. * Lauren Ashwell, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199664023
Author Jordi Fernandez
Format Hardback
Page Count 268
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 464g
Dimensions(mm) 221mm * 147mm * 20mm