Description
Book SynopsisPresents a case for 'egocentric presentism', a view about the nature of first-person experience, about what happens when we see things from our own particular point of view. This book maintains that people's experiences give them grounds for believing that they have a special, distinguished place in the world.
Trade ReviewOne of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010 "This short book raises all the big questions that drive much of modern philosophy--metaphysical questions regarding personal identity, solipsism, and self-consciousness; and normative questions concerning what one should value and how one should act. Written clearly, but technically, this often-illustrated volume not only will provoke debates on key issues in contemporary philosophy, but also offers well-defended solutions to those debates."--Choice "[A] short, stylish, and ingenious monograph."--Rory Madden, Mind
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction xi Chapter 1: Self-Interest and Self-Importance 1 1.1 Confl icting Considerations 2 1.2 The Way Forward 8 Chapter 2: Time- Bias and the Metaphysics of Time 9 2.1 The Peacemaker's Response 14 Chapter 3: Egocentrism and Egocentric Metaphysics 19 3.1 Egocentric Presentism--an Introduction 21 3.2 Semantics for a Logic of Points of View 23 3.3 Egocentric Presentism and Points of View 27 3.4 Egocentric Presentism and Egocentric Considerations 30 3.5 Can We Resolve All Confl icts This Way? 37 Chapter 4: Clarifi cations 41 4.1 Ontological Commitments 41 4.2 Presence and Consciousness 42 4.3 Presence and Time 46 4.4 The Intelligibility of the Notion of Monadic Presence 50 4.5 Making Sense of What Other People Believe and Say 52 Chapter 5: A Problem about Personal Identity over Time 57 5.1 Judgments from the Outside and Inside 57 5.2 Making Sense of Our Judgments from the Outside and Inside 62 5.3 Error Theories 70 Chapter 6: The Solution 73 6.1 Judgments from the Inside Do Not Concern Personal Identity over Time 73 6.2 De Se Ignorance 76 6.3 The Solution 81 6.4 Dread, Existential and Anticipatory 86 Chapter 7: Skepticism and Humility 91 7.1 Skepticism 91 7.2 Humility 96 7.3 Wrapping Up 98 Notes 99 References 107 Index 111
