the issue is contingent on what one interprets the term “thought” to signify. — javra
The key cleavage seems to be whether thought is meant to be essentially sentential or propositional, as opposed to "representational". — J
p and I think p. — J
I wasn't as clear as I should have been…. — J
I hope to explore the question of how objectivity (“p”) relates to subjectivity (“It is I who thinks p”). — J
"I think" necessitates a self that is conscious of thinking. — RussellA
Possibility one = p is external to the self, internal to the self but not a part of the self or accompanies the self. If this were the case, the self would have no way of knowing about p. — RussellA
Why isn’t the p/“p” dualism backwards? Objectivity is the thing given to sensibility, whatever it is, it is that thing, so should be denominated as p. What I think about is nothing more than the affect that thing has on my senses, the affect cannot possibly be identical to the (p) thing itself, so can justifiably be denominated “p”, which in turn is referred to as representation of p. Shouldn’t it be the case that objectivity is p, subjectivity being how I am affected by p, which would be thought by me, post hoc ergo propter hoc, as “p”. — Mww
….it seems reasonable enough except that traditionally p is used to refer to a proposition — J
the issue is contingent on what one interprets the term “thought” to signify.
— javra
I tend to agree, based on the interesting responses to the OP. The key cleavage seems to be whether thought is meant to be essentially sentential or propositional, as opposed to "representational". — J
Sure it is, or could be. If I thought this had a cut-and-dried answer, I wouldn't be bothering y'all with it. All opinions are welcome. — J
So, same question to you as to Banno, earlier: If Pat is correct, does that mean that my #4 is the right response?
I think about things; I don’t think p. — Mww
Or is there another response that seems better? — J
If Pat is correct, does that mean that my #4 is the right response? — J
Right. And for Rödl (and I think Kant and Sartre) it isn't even a matter of "prefixed"; the "I think" is supposed to be structural or internal. — J
Or is there another response that seems better? — J
Is it reasonably clear? — J
So with these recent posts, we’re going a bit deeper into the question of “I think p” and its relation to p. — J
I think about things; I don’t think p.
— Mww
Sometimes we're thinking about propositions, utterances, statements, assertions, etc. Those are things too! — creativesoul
Thought (…) is 'essentially' correlational. That is, it all consists of correlations drawn between different things. All of it, not just some of it. — creativesoul
So, the 'cleavage' is not so much 'oppositional' in nature so much as comparative. — creativesoul
So, #4 is 'right' in some way/sense of being right.
Pat is right to deny that that is always the case. However, some of the other answers are also correct, depending upon the specific candidate of thought under consideration. — creativesoul
However, this whole thread just glosses over the underlying issue. Kant did not draw the distinction between thought/thinking and thinking about thought/thinking. Rödi just assumes and further reinforces that error. — creativesoul
The “I think” accompanies all our thoughts, says Kant. Sebastian Rödl, in Self-Consciousness and Objectivity, agrees with this but points out that “this cannot be put by saying that, in every act of thinking, two things are thought: p and I think p.” He calls this a confusion arising from our notation, and suggests, not entirely seriously, that we could devise a more accurate notation “that makes I think internal to p: we may form the letter p by writing, in the shape of a p, the words I think.” He interprets Kant as saying the same thing: for Kant, “the I think is not something thought alongside the thought that it accompanies, but internal to what is thought as such.” — J
'p', 'I think p', and "I think 'p'" all presuppose truth. — creativesoul
Also, I'm not sure the first-person is all that important to the distinction being drawn. We talk about other people's mental events, just as we talk about other people's affirmations and claims and all that. "Judy thought you had gone home." "Judy thinks you should go home. — Srap Tasmaner
I guess the biggest question is how you intend to handle the mental events side. Space of reasons or space of causes?
"Judy thought you had left because she heard the front door" as causal: "If Judy had not heard the front door, she wouldn't have thought you had left"; or as not: "If Judy had not heard the front door, she would have had no reason to think you'd left." ― The trouble with the second is that it should really have "and so she didn't" at the end, but it's pretty hard to justify. People think all kinds of stuff, or fail to.
Does any of that matter for the theory? — Srap Tasmaner
I agree that we cannot think without the I think at the very least subtly implied or lurking in the shadows of thought, but I do not think that reflects the ultimate reality. — ENOAH
Isn't it a tautology? When you say P, it already implies you think P. — Corvus
Get involved in philosophical discussions about knowledge, truth, language, consciousness, science, politics, religion, logic and mathematics, art, history, and lots more. No ads, no clutter, and very little agreement — just fascinating conversations.