Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats
Putnam’s argument against the sceptical Brain-in-a-Vat hypothesis continues to intrigue. I argue in what follows that the argument refutes a particular kind of sceptic and make a proposal about its more general significance. To appreciate the soundness of the argument, I explain, we need to apprecia...
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| Format: | Article |
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De Gruyter
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52825/ |
| _version_ | 1848798818721595392 |
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| author | Noonan, Harold W. |
| author_facet | Noonan, Harold W. |
| author_sort | Noonan, Harold W. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Putnam’s argument against the sceptical Brain-in-a-Vat hypothesis continues to intrigue. I argue in what follows that the argument refutes a particular kind of sceptic and make a proposal about its more general significance. To appreciate the soundness of the argument, I explain, we need to appreciate that the sceptic’s contention is that I cannot know that I am not a brain in a vat even if I am not. This is why in response to the sceptic it is legitimate to make a transition from knowing that a sentence is true to knowing the truth it expresses, which is the crucial move in the argument. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:25:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-52825 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:25:49Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-528252020-05-04T18:04:35Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52825/ Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats Noonan, Harold W. Putnam’s argument against the sceptical Brain-in-a-Vat hypothesis continues to intrigue. I argue in what follows that the argument refutes a particular kind of sceptic and make a proposal about its more general significance. To appreciate the soundness of the argument, I explain, we need to appreciate that the sceptic’s contention is that I cannot know that I am not a brain in a vat even if I am not. This is why in response to the sceptic it is legitimate to make a transition from knowing that a sentence is true to knowing the truth it expresses, which is the crucial move in the argument. De Gruyter 2016-09-01 Article PeerReviewed Noonan, Harold W. (2016) Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats. Metaphysica, 17 (2). pp. 207-212. ISSN 1874-6373 Brain-in-a-Vat; scepticism; Putnam; Wright https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/mp.2016.17.issue-2/mp-2016-0016/mp-2016-0016.xml doi:10.1515/mp-2016-0016 doi:10.1515/mp-2016-0016 |
| spellingShingle | Brain-in-a-Vat; scepticism; Putnam; Wright Noonan, Harold W. Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats |
| title | Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats |
| title_full | Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats |
| title_fullStr | Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats |
| title_full_unstemmed | Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats |
| title_short | Additional reflections on Putnam, Wright and Brains in Vats |
| title_sort | additional reflections on putnam, wright and brains in vats |
| topic | Brain-in-a-Vat; scepticism; Putnam; Wright |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52825/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52825/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52825/ |