The Power of the First Person

Abstract

This paper explores the question “who am I?” and what power or powers, if any, may be attributed to the first person. In the first place, the views of Descartes and Hume are contrasted and a biological eliminativism of mental life is considered as a possible development of the Humeian view. Several reasons are offered to cast doubt on all three positions. In the second place, an attempt is made to justify three possible sets of first-person powers: the first person is equipped with reliable sensory organs and with a no-less reliable use of words; the first person is capable of knowing him/herself; the first person has the capacity to intervene in the world: to initiate sequences of events.