03 Maggio 2019, GENOVA via Balbi 30, Aula Dottorandi 7° piano - ore 15
Categoria: Curriculum Episteme, Curriculum Ethics

Nevia Dolcini (Philosophy and Religious Studies Programme, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Macau)

will give a talk on “Self deception and Communication

 

ABSTRACT (download .pdf)

The very possibility of self-deception raises the philosophically relevant concern that our defense against skeptic doubts may be undermined. Indeed, self-deception poses serious limitations to (self-)knowledge, both individually and collectively. However, what exactly is the nature of self-deception, and what is mechanism underlying the formation/acquisition of self-deceptive beliefs is still matter of controversy. The current debate is characterized by a divide between the so-called intentionalists and anti-intentionalists, mainly disagreeing on whether self-deception is to be modeled after other-deception or not. While sympathizing with the non-intentionalists, my proposal mainly aims at highlighting the pragmatic dimension of self-deception. I will focus my analysis on communication, as to show how linguistic data offer support in favor of the idea that the underlying mechanism of self-deception hinges on the subjects’ capacities for generating (novel) hypotheses. Reframed within the broader context of communication, self-deception reveals itself as a phenomenon distinct from other-deception, yet intertwined to it for the role played by the subjects in raising (false) hypotheses, or possibilities.