Can you stop yourself being infected with other peoples’ desires? | Aeon Essays

is professor of philosophy at the Centre for Philosophical Psychology at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. He has four books published with Oxford University Press, with three more forthcoming. Edited byNigel Warburton Brought to you by Curio, an Aeon partner Listen to more Aeon Essays here Most of what we know, we know from someone else. I believe that Moroni is the capital of the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean because a friend of mine just told me this five minutes ago, and I have no reason to think that she is trying to trick me. But she hasn’t been there either – she also knows this only because she read it somewhere. We acquire most of what we know about the world this way – by testimony. Testimony is a good thing. If we could rely only on our own senses, our knowledge would be very limited. When you watch the news, listen to the weather forecast or gossip about a colleague at the water fountain, you are relying on other people’s testimony. This healthy distribution of ta

is professor of philosophy at the Centre for Philosophical Psychology at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. He has four books published with Oxford University Press, with three more forthcoming. Edited byNigel Warburton Brought to you by Curio, an Aeon partner Listen to more Aeon Essays here Most of what we know, we know from someone else. I believe that Moroni is the capital of the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean because a friend of mine just told me this five minutes ago, and I have no reason to think that she is trying to trick me. But she hasn’t been there either – she also knows th