De Se Thought and Communication: An Introduction

This chapter provides a critical overview of various influential accounts of de se attitudes including those proposed by Frege, Lewis, Perry, and Stalnaker on assertion. It also addresses the skeptics’ charge that there is nothing distinctive about de se attitudes. The second half outlines a widely accepted and influential model (The Simple Transfer Model) of communication and various complications that arise in applying this model to the communication of de se thoughts. The chapter suggests that at the very least the Simple Transfer Model does not provide a satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon of de se communication. The final section provides an overview of the chapters in this volume.