On Myself, and Other, Less Important Subjects

by Caspar Hare, Mark Johnston (Introduction)

Caspar Hare makes an original and compelling case for "egocentric presentism," a view about the nature of first-person experience, about what happens when we see things from our own particular point of view. A natural thought about our first-person experience is that "all and only the things of which I am aware are present to me." Hare, however, goes one step further and claims, counterintuitively, that the thought should instead be that "all and only the things of which I am aware are present." There is, in other words, something unique about me and the things of which I am aware.



On Myself and Other, Less Important Subjects represents a new take on an old view, known as solipsism, which maintains that people's experiences give them grounds for believing that they have a special, distinguished place in the world--for example, believing that only they exist or that other people do not have conscious minds like their own. Few contemporary thinkers have taken solipsism seriously. But Hare maintains that the version of solipsism he argues for is in indeed defensible, and that it is uniquely capable of resolving some seemingly intractable philosophical problems--both in metaphysics and ethics--concerning personal identity over time, as well as the tension between self-interest and the greater good.


This formidable and tightly argued defense of a seemingly absurd view is certain to provoke debate.

Genres: Philosophy, Metaphysics

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jesper Östman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and very clear and furthermore even entertaining.

Hare advocates a certain kind of "sophisticated solipsism"; that all the perceptual objects a person experienced share the feature of being "present". This is the central notion of the book. It is a monadic predicate

The presence is taken to explain why we have reason to care more about our own pleasures and pains than those of others. Furthermore it is supposed to explain contradicting intuitions about personal identity in fission cases.

[Eirik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read. I will have to return to certain parts in order to properly grasp them, but on the whole Hare is a good writer who makes his point without unnecessarily opaque prose or convoluted arguments. In fact, he's frequently entertaining, which is not something I would normally expect from a philosophical text.

His so-called egocentric presentism is, to be honest, a hard sell. At first glance it's a ludicrous claim, only surpassed in ridiculousness by the sheer audacity of the argument. He does, however, make an interesting case, with valid points and comprehensive lines of reasoning. To a layperson like myself, it seems like a well structured argument with solid work behind it.

That is not to say that I agree with everything he states. Neither do I think that is Hare's intention, or that he cares much whether or not you agree. In some ways, this reads like a thought experiment, where he challenges some preconceptions you might have and forces you to consider other points of view. So even if I'm not a convert to his worldview, it was a fascinating, even amusing, read. I'm glad to have been exposed to his ideas, and I will definitely find myself thinking about them from time to time in the future.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book rocks. A little bit technical, so come ready to work through some tough sections, especially if you don’t have a strong background in philosophy. Must read for philosophers, especially those on the analytic tradition.

[Billy Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic thesis in favour of egocentric presentism

[Kam Ho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is way too condensed. The main idea is fascinating but the alleged implications are hard to follow.

[Victor Te · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was named one of Choice's "Outstanding Academic Titles for 2010." It apparently grew out of the author's Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton, after which he landed a faculty position at MIT. But never mind all that. The main point is that this is a great book. It takes a very subtle issue -- that one's own experience is "present" in a way that the experiences of others are not -- and discusses it with remarkable clarity. While the author is aware of and builds on previous philosophical literature, the book is written in a style that should make it very accessible to readers without prior philosophical training. It is extremely well written with a good dose of humor to boot, making it entertaining as well as enlightening.

[John Weathers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and thought provoking exposition of the author's theory of a weak solipsism that presents solutions for a few philosophical puzzles that have less satisfactory traditional solutions.