The Value of Transparent Self-Knowledge
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The Value of Transparent Self-Knowledge Fleur Jongepier 1 Accepted: 11 August 2020/ # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract
Questions about the normative significance of ‘transparency’ do not receive much attention, even though they were central to Richard Moran’s (2001) original account. Instead, transparency is typically studied because of its epistemic and psychological peculiarities. In this paper, I consider three normative conceptions of transparency: teleological rationalism, procedural rationalism, and relational rationalism. The first is a theory about how transparency might relate to flourishing as a rational agent; the latter two are theories about how transparency relates to non-alienated self-knowledge. All three conceptions, I argue, face serious problems. I end the paper by suggesting where the rationalist might go from here and by highlighting the importance of focusing not on the methods but on the broader circumstances in which self-knowledge is gained or lost. Keywords Alienation . Authenticity . Autonomy . Self-knowledge . Transparency
Introduction The notion of transparency relevant to the contemporary self-knowledge debate is typically explained by invoking the metaphor that instead of looking inwards, one acquires selfknowledge by looking outwards. Mental states are not facts of the matter waiting to be discovered with some sort of inner scanner. Instead, one acquires knowledge of one’s own mental states by actively reflecting on the proposition one’s attitudes are about, or so transparency theorists claim. One acquires self-knowledge by treating questions about one’s mental states, like “Do I believe that a third world war is coming?” as transparent to corresponding world-directed questions, such as, “Is it true that a third world war is coming?” (Evans 1982). When confronted with self-knowledge questions, one ‘looks through’ one’s attitudes, directly at the object one’s attitude is about.
* Fleur Jongepier [email protected]
1
Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
F. Jongepier
One of the main attractions of transparency views is the idea that self-knowledge and agency are intimately connected, and that traditional introspectionist and interpretationalist accounts of self-knowledge have overlooked this important connection.1 Arguably the most influential transparency account to date is the one developed by Richard Moran (2001).2 Specific to Moran’s approach is that the capacity to answer world-directed questions – or, as Moran calls it, ‘obeying’ or ‘conforming to’ transparency – is intimately connected to one’s capacity for rational deliberation. Acquiring transparent self-knowledge, on Moran’s view, involves ‘making up one’s mind’ which involves rationally reflecting on, and coming to a judgment about, states of affairs in the world.3 For instance, in order to know whether I believe that a third world war is likely to happen, I actively reflect on, say, the current situation in the US, Russia, Hungary, and so on. Aft
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