The Problem Of Other Minds And Its Solutions

The problem of other minds is one of nine issues in the philosophy of mind. What is the problem of other minds? Simply, it consists of two parts : Do other people have mind, too? If do, how can I know it?The first question is the one about ontology. Actually, the reason why people have the problem of other minds just lies in the mind-body ideas in Descartes and FP: Minds are the paradigm nonphysical objects, which are lodged in our bodies, and are the source of our thoughts. The knowledge of ones mental states is the knowledge of the goings-on of some private inner world ; but such an approach jeopardizes the possibility that we can have the direct knowledge of other minds. To conclude, the problem of other minds arises when we keep the idea of dualism. Therefore, if we want to solve the problem, we have to change our opinion about the mind, giving up dualism. As a result, behaviorism , identity theory come into being. They construe mind something public, so everyone can have an approach to other minds. After a complete analysis of the problem other minds, the author find the trend of ontological changes-naturalization behind the knowledge of mind. Encountered with this trend, we both have the chance and challenge if we want to insist on and develop Marxism.This thesis can be divided into 3 sections:Section 1: The problem of other minds and its logical origin. The problem of other minds is generated by an asymmetry in respect of knowledge: each of us has direct knowledge of our own mind, but not of others. Dualism is the logical origin of the problem. As Descartes and FP construe mind as nonphysical object, solipsism and scepticism is logically lodged in knowledge of mind.Section 2: Several attempts to solve the problems. In this part, the author introduce several ways to solve the problem: the argument of analogy , method ofbehaviorism, linguistic analysis , identity theory.Section 3: The inspiration that the problem of other minds bring to us. The origin of the problem and the solution to the problem have much to do with peoples opinion about mind. As naturalization is popular in the circle of philosophy of mind, which is not much the same with Marxism, we have a long way to go if we want to stick to and develop Marxism...