Knowing Want I Want

Abstract

As it is silly to ask somebody,‘How do you know you are in pain?’ it is equally foolish to ask, ‘How do you know that you want to go to the movies?’ Vendler, Res Cogitans Knowing that one wants to go to the movies is an example of self-knowledge, knowledge of one’s mental states. It may be foolish to ask the man on the Clapham Omnibus how he knows what he wants, but the question is nonetheless important — albeit neglected by epistemologists. This paper attempts an answer.