The Paradox of Self-Consciousness

Abstract

Bermudez' main theme is that first-person thoughts require a less elaborate conceptual background than many philosophers think.In particular, a small child can have the resources to think about herself independently of her developing capacity to use a public language.In this way Bermudez aims to resolve the paradox of the title: the circular trap formed by the apparent sophistication of Ithoughts, requiring a rich repertoire of concepts (person, self, indexicality) and the apparent impossibility of finding a route to the acquisition of this sophistication that does not presuppose the prior capacity to have such thoughts.