A hybrid account of self-knowledge that integrates agency and self-interpretation

Download files
Access & Terms of Use
open access
Copyright: Levenston, Harriet
Altmetric
Abstract
This thesis argues that certain kinds of our beliefs and desires—what I call “peripheral attitudes”—are expressions of rational agency. In addition, I argue that knowing about these kinds of states self-interpretively (on the basis of evidence, such as our thoughts, feelings and behaviour) is a feature of being a functional rational agent. I seek to account for self-knowledge—our ability to correctly identify mental states that we undergo—in a way that respects key intuitions of both the interpretationist and agentialist positions. For the agentialist, self-knowledge is importantly distinct from other-knowledge—the knowledge we have of the external world, where this includes the mental states of others. In contrast, for the interpretationist, self-knowledge is no different in kind from other-knowledge; we know our own attitudes in much the same way that we know the attitudes of others: interpretively. The agentialist charges that the need to know one’s attitudes in a third-personal way (e.g., interpretively) is a form of self-estrangement. I argue against this. I also advance a positive claim: that taking up the third-personal perspective is integral to self-knowledge; thus, we should not be so quick to relegate it to the realm of other-knowledge. I do not strictly oppose agentialism; rather, I seek to expand upon the view so as to show that an interpretationist account can in fact meet key agentialist criteria—criteria that I deem important to uphold if we want to harness what we discover about ourselves. This hybrid approach is designed to contextualise self-knowledge within a broader project of ongoing self-constitution.
Persistent link to this record
Link to Publisher Version
Link to Open Access Version
Additional Link
Author(s)
Levenston, Harriet
Supervisor(s)
Valaris, Markos
Michael, Michaelis
Creator(s)
Editor(s)
Translator(s)
Curator(s)
Designer(s)
Arranger(s)
Composer(s)
Recordist(s)
Conference Proceedings Editor(s)
Other Contributor(s)
Corporate/Industry Contributor(s)
Publication Year
2019
Resource Type
Thesis
Degree Type
PhD Doctorate
Files
download public version.pdf 3.51 MB Adobe Portable Document Format
Related dataset(s)