structure for 'Nature of Minds'    |     alphabetical list of themes    |     expand these ideas

15. Nature of Minds / A. Nature of Mind / 4. Other Minds / b. Scepticism of other minds

[doubts about knowledge of other minds]

6 ideas
If we can't know minds, we can't know if Pyrrho was a sceptic [Theodosius, by Diog. Laertius]
A consciousness can conceive of no other consciousness than itself [Sartre]
We can never, even in principle, grasp other minds, because the Ego is self-conceiving [Sartre]
Maybe induction could never prove the existence of something unobservable [Ayer]
Other minds are 'metaphysical' objects, because I can never observe their experiences [Ayer]
If we know other minds through behaviour, but not our own, we should assume they aren't like me [Davidson]