STS Lecture Series

Deciphering the Ocular Dialect: How to use eyes to read minds

Brian Keeley
Department of Philosophy
Pitzer College, and visiting at
University of Pittsburgh

Abstract

The “ocular dialect” refers to the human capacity to communicate using the eyes and surrounding structures (eyebrows, eyelids, etc.). Unlike the syntax and semantics of spoken language, the use of this communicative system—both its production and reception—is largely nonconscious in nature. As such, it constitutes a largely unrecognized source of information concerning the mindedness of others. This paper explores a bit of naturalized epistemology with respect to our knowledge of other minds. In particular, it focuses on what I call the “practical problem of other minds.” The traditional problem of other minds focuses on the deeper questions of whether others have minds at all and what we know can know—if anything—about the nature of others’ phenomenal consciousness. I instead concentrate on the more practical—but still deeply problematic—question of how we make specific attributions of mental states to others. In the end, I argue that the nature of the ocular dialect is such that it constitutes a source of skepticism for traditional worries about other minds.