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tags:philosophysemantics
Internalism is the thesis that no fact about the world can provide reasons for actions independently of desires and beliefs.
Externalism is the thesis that reasons are to be identified with objective features of the world.
Within the context of the philosophy of mind, externalism is the theory that the contents of at least some of one’s mental states are dependent in part on their relationship to the external world or one’s environment.
The traditional view of meaning—the internalist view—rests on the assumption that knowing the meaning of a term is just a matter of being in a certain psychological state. It follows from this assumption, Putnam suggests, that the psychological state of the speaker determines the meaning of the term being used by a speaker.
Semantic Externalism
The meaning of a term is determined , in whole or in part, by factors external to the speaker.
According to an externalist position, one can claim without contradiction that two speakers could be in exactly the same brain state at the time of an utterance, and yet mean different things by that utterance — that is, at the least, that their terms could pick out different referents.
Elms and Oaks: Putnam pointed out, for instance, that he has no knowledge that could distinguish elm trees from beech trees. He has precisely the same concept of one as of the other: “a deciduous tree growing in North America”. Yet when Putnam makes a statement containing the word “elm”, we take him to be referring specifically to elms. If he makes a claim about a property of elm trees, it will be considered true or false, depending upon whether that property applies to those trees which are in fact elms. There is nothing “in the head” that could fix his reference thus; rather, he concluded, his linguistic community, containing some speakers who did know the difference between the two trees, ensured that when he said “elm”, he referred to elms. Putnam refers to this feature of language as “the division of linguistic labor”.
Justification: Your belief has some kind of support or validation
Internalist Justification: Things that support your belief are things that you are aware of and couple explain to others. Expression
Externalist Justification: Things that support your belief that you are not full aware of, or could not explain to others.
Internalist example: A juror is part of a trial. What would be necessary for a juror to be justified in her belief a defendant is guilty? She listens to the testimonies and evidence and in the end she is convinced beyond reasonable doubt of the guilt. She is justified through internalist justification.
Externalist example: A Veteran officer with years of experience withdraws his troops with the feeling that an ambush lies in the place where he was about to order them to go to.
Thought Experiments
- Swamp thing
- Twin World