Problem of other minds explained

The problem of other minds is a philosophical problem traditionally stated as the following epistemological question: Given that I can only observe the behavior of others, how can I know that others have minds?^[1] The problem is that knowledge of other minds is always indirect. The problem of other minds does not negatively impact social interactions due to people having a "theory of mind" – the ability to spontaneously infer the mental states of others – supported by innate mirror neurons,^[2] a theory of mind mechanism,^[3] or a tacit theory.^[4] There has also been an increase in evidence that behavior results from cognition which in turn requires consciousness and the brain.

It is a problem of the philosophical idea known as solipsism: the notion that for any person only one's own mind is known to exist. The problem of other minds maintains that no matter how sophisticated someone's behavior is, that does not reasonably guarantee that someone has the presence of thought occurring within them as when oneself engages in behavior.^[5] Phenomenology studies the subjective experience of human life resulting from consciousness. The specific subject within phenomenology studying other minds is intersubjectivity.

See also

• Animal consciousness
• Binding problem
• Boltzmann brain
• Brain in a vat
• Chinese room
• Dream argument
• Ethics of uncertain sentience
• Explanatory gap
• Hard problem of consciousness
• Mind–body problem
• Open individualism
• Philosophical skepticism
• Philosophical zombie
• Philosophy of mind
• Psychophysics
• Qualia
• Theory of mind
• Turing test
• Vertiginous question

Further reading

• Book: Godfrey-Smith, Peter . Peter Godfrey-Smith . 2016 . . New York . . 9780374227760 . 957696590 .
• Inami . Masahiro . August 2001 . The problem of other minds in the Buddhist epistemological tradition . . 29 . 4 . 465–483 . 10.1023/A:1013151011789 . 23496930 . 169112249 .
• Book: Avramides, Anita . Anita Avramides . 2001 . Other minds . The problems of philosophy . London; New York . . 0415033365 . 44613007 . 10.4324/9780203870174 . 240744968 .
• Book: Dennett, Daniel C. . Daniel Dennett . 2017 . 1978 . . 40th anniversary . A Bradford book . Cambridge, MA . . 9780262534383 . 988171852 . 10.7551/mitpress/11146.001.0001 .
• Book: Buford . Thomas O. . 1970 . Essays on other minds . Urbana, IL . University of Illinois Press . 0252001230 . 133061 .
• Book: Plantinga, Alvin . Alvin Plantinga . 1967 . . Contemporary philosophy . Ithaca, NY . . 383698 .
• Book: Wisdom, John . John Wisdom . 1966 . 1952 . Other minds . 2nd . Oxford . . 1076880 .

External links

• • other-minds . Other minds.
  • solipsis . Problem of other minds.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Other minds. Alec. Hyslop. Zalta. Edward N.. Nodelman. Uri. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University. 1095-5054. 14 January 2014. May 26, 2015.
2. Colle . Livia . Becchio . Cristina . Bara . Bruno . 2008 . The Non-Problem of the Other Minds: A Neurodevelopmental Perspective on Shared Intentionality . Human Development . 51 . 5/6 . 336–348 . 10.1159/000170896 . 26764876 . 29 April 2021 . 143370747.
3. Leslie . Alan . Friedman . Ori . German . Tim . Core mechanisms in 'theory of mind'. . Trends in Cognitive Sciences . 2004 . 8 . 12 . 528–533 . 10.1016/j.tics.2004.10.001 . 15556021 . 17591514 .
4. Gopnik . Alison . Alison Gopnik . Wellman . Henry . Henry Wellman . Reconstructing constructivism: causal models, Bayesian learning mechanisms, and the theory theory . Psychological Bulletin . 2012 . 138 . 6 . 1085–1108 . 10.1037/a0028044 . 22582739 . 3422420 .
5. Encyclopedia: Thornton . Stephen . Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Solipsism and the Problem of Other Minds . 2161-0002 . 2021-06-02 .