Introspection Vindicated: An Essay in Defense of the Perceptual Model of Self Knowledge
In this work of epistemology, Elshof (philosophy, Biola U., California) conducts a critical assessment of the perceptual/observational model of introspection by examining the knowledge humans have of themselves, and whether such knowledge is a species of perception. He begins by analyzing the significance and pervasiveness of introspection and proceeds to his Perpetual Model of Introspection (PMI), describing its historical proponents and central thesis. He compares PMI to other models of self-knowledge, and summarizes early and contemporary arguments against it, including those from Lyons, Searle and Dennett, and follows with an examination of Shoemaker’s critiques, comparing him to Hume. In closing, Elshof maintains that despite the efforts of theorists since the onset of the twentieth century, PMI is the most natural way of thinking about the knowledge humans have of their own minds.