Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature: Thirtieth-Anniversary Edition (Princeton Classics)

by Richard Rorty

Still, we must ask whether there is some pre-philosophical intuition which is preserved in (P) and which can be separated from the Cartesian picture. What exactly is the difference between misdescribing something like a star and misdescribing something like a pain? Why does the former seem obviously possible and the latter unimaginable? Perhaps the answer goes something like this. We expect the star to look the same even after we realize that it is a faraway ball of flame rather than a nearby hole, but the pain ought to feel different once we realize that it is a stimulated C-fiber, for the pain is a feeling, as the star is not a visual appearance. If we give this answer, however, we are still stuck with the notion of “feeling” and with the puzzle about whether the Antipodeans have any feelings.

September 18, 2020. Not bad yet. Page 85.