
Selves in Doubt
Eli Hirsch(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Will be published approx. on 20. May 2026
Book
Hardback
200 pages
978-0-19-781398-0 (ISBN)
Description
In Selves in Doubt, Eli Hirsch focuses on the importance of the first-person perspective to a normal human level of rational thought and behavior. Hirsch argues that an "I-blind" being--one who lacks the capacity to employ the first-person pronoun--could not be fully rational; nor could they acquire normal knowledge of physical reality.
The meaning of the first-person pronoun is shown to have a particular bearing on the anomalous context of split-brain patients and generalizations of that context. Hirsch critiques Parfit's suggestion that a better language might eliminate or revise the concept of personal identity and the use of the first-person pronoun, on the grounds that the first-person perspective must remain as it is because the capacity to employ the first-person pronoun is a necessary condition for a language to be suitable for rational beings. Hirsch also contends that, contrary to Lewis and Sider, it may be difficult to find any other necessary condition for a language to be suitable for rational beings.
The meaning of the first-person pronoun is shown to have a particular bearing on the anomalous context of split-brain patients and generalizations of that context. Hirsch critiques Parfit's suggestion that a better language might eliminate or revise the concept of personal identity and the use of the first-person pronoun, on the grounds that the first-person perspective must remain as it is because the capacity to employ the first-person pronoun is a necessary condition for a language to be suitable for rational beings. Hirsch also contends that, contrary to Lewis and Sider, it may be difficult to find any other necessary condition for a language to be suitable for rational beings.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 213 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
336 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-781398-0 (9780197813980)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Eli Hirsch is Professor of Philosophy at Brandeis University. He has published widely on metaphysics and epistemology. He teaches a variety of courses including medical ethics and philosophy of religion. Hirsch has also published works on the connection between philosophy and Talmud.
Content
- 1: The First-Person Pronoun (1): I-Blindness
- 2: The First-Person Pronoun (2): Split Brains
- 3: Strange Languages of the Self (1): Parfitian Languages
- 4: Strange Languages of the Self (2): Better and Worse Languages
- 5: The Impossibility of Doubting the Existence of Other Selves
- 6: Reasons for Doubting the Existence of Other Selves
- 7: Reflections on Facing Skepticism, and Facing Death
- Appendix A: Reference Magnetism and Norms of Language
- Appendix B: Williams's Explanation of Reference Magnetism