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Modern philosophy is stuck. Many philosophers believe that we just need to keep trying and eventually we’ll figure out the mind. However, the author argues that this ignores the fact that philosophy has been stuck for centuries.This stagnation is a symptom of a deeper problem. The author believes that the root of the problem is “representationism.” This is the idea that we don’t perceive the world directly, but only through mental representations of it.Representationism leads to skepticism. The author points out that if we only ever experience representations, we can never be sure that the external world actually exists. This is known as “existential skepticism.”Hume’s challenge. The philosopher David Hume famously argued that representationism inevitably leads to skepticism. While most philosophers reject skepticism, they have continued to hold onto representationism.The consequences of ignoring Hume. The author argues that by ignoring Hume’s challenge, philosophers have trapped themselves in a cycle of repeating the same mistakes.We need to find an alternative to representationism. The author believes that the only way forward is to develop a new understanding of perception that doesn’t rely on representations.
Chapter I.1
This paper argues that modern philosophy is stuck and hasn’t made much progress in understanding the human mind. The author believes this “stagnation” is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
Here’s a breakdown of the author’s argument:
To understand how philosophy got stuck, the author proposes a historical investigation into the origins of representationism. By understanding how this idea took hold, we can begin to develop alternative ways of thinking about the mind.
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