Since Socrates, and through Descartes to the present day, the
problems of self-knowledge have been central to philosophy's
understanding of itself. Today the idea of ''first-person
authority''--the claim of a distinctive relation each person has
toward his or her own mental life--has been challenged from a
number of directions, to the point where many doubt the person
bears any distinctive relation to his or her own mental life, let
alone a privileged one. In "Authority and Estrangement," Richard
Moran argues for a reconception of the first-person and its claims.
Indeed, he writes, a more thorough repudiation of the idea of
privileged inner observation leads to a deeper appreciation of the
systematic differences between self-knowledge and the knowledge of
others, differences that are both irreducible and constitutive of
the very concept and life of the person.
Masterfully blending philosophy of mind and moral psychology,
Moran develops a view of self-knowledge that concentrates on the
self as agent rather than spectator. He argues that while each
person does speak for his own thought and feeling with a
distinctive authority, that very authority is tied just as much to
the disprivileging of the first-person, to its specific
possibilities of alienation. Drawing on certain themes from
Wittgenstein, Sartre, and others, the book explores the extent to
which what we say about ourselves is a matter of discovery or of
creation, the difficulties and limitations in being ''objective''
toward ourselves, and the conflicting demands of realism about
oneself and responsibility for oneself. What emerges is a
strikingly original and psychologically nuanced exploration of the
contrasting ideals of relations to oneself and relations to
others.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(1)
