The Swampman Paradox: Can a Mind Exist Without a Past?

In this episode of Seven Minutes of Philosophy of Mind, we dive into one of the strangest and most thought-provoking thought experiments in contemporary philosophy: The Swampman Paradox. What happens when an identical copy of you is created by chance, molecule for molecule, but without a past? Does it think? Does it mean anything when it speaks? Donald Davidson argued that without a history of interactions and learning, the Swampman lacks real intentionality. But does meaning require history, or can it emerge through function and adaptation? We explore the implications of this paradox for theories of mind, language, and evolution—questioning whether intentionality is something we have or something we build over time. Tune in for a quick yet deep dive into one of philosophy’s most unsettling puzzles.

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Видео The Swampman Paradox: Can a Mind Exist Without a Past? канала Seven Minutes of Philosophy of Mind