A Fishy Story

“David,” said Batsheva, “did you see Avshalom take the cookie from the cookie jar?”

“No,” said David.

The funny thing is, David did see Avshalom take the cookie. And he remembers seeing it. But when he told Batsheva that he didn’t see it, he wasn’t lying. You see, David saw Avshalom take the cookie, but he believes that Avshalom can do no wrong, so he believes that he did not see Avshalom take the cookie. Even though he did see it.

My Dear Readers will be quick to point out that, in this scenario, David is probably just doubting his memory. That is, he remembers seeing Avshalom take the cookie, but he believes this memory to be false. So, let’s modify the story. It’ll be a bit less realistic, but not much.

“David,” said Batsheva, “do you remember seeing Avshalom take the cookie from the cookie jar?”

“No,” said David.

A bit trickier here, if you think about it. False memories won’t save us. David believes that he has no memory of Avshalom taking the cookie. We know (we assume for the purposes of the story) that he does indeed remember it. David is not lying, he is mistaken.

Is there something fishy about this story? It sounds plausible, but is it really possible to be mistaken about a question of what you yourself remember? Is it possible that we are consistently mistaken when we reflect on our own memories? If a skeptic challenges our belief in the content of our own memory, can we answer him, or does the skeptic win here too? Can we doubt anything, even the present contents of our own minds? Or is there something different about the present content of my mind? Something special?

How do we know what we are thinking?

David Lewis once made fun of “internalist” philosophers, who claim that we have a special relationship with our own present state of mind. He said that they always end up telling “some fishy story” about how we can have direct knowledge of our own conscious states. Is Lewis right? Or is there One True Story of the World, in which our memories are truly self-evident? Is the fishyness in Lewis’ mind, or in everyone’s mind?

I have some thoughts on this matter, but they’re not fully baked. Meanwhile, Dear Readers, please let me know what you think.

Or what you think you think.