No one is an island and through shared experience we come to know each other. Yet the gap between what others say and who they are is a puzzle we all find perplexing. Are the minds of others profoundly unknowable? Are we as much of a mystery to ourself? Or is thought and experience inextricably social so there is no gap to overcome after all?
In this week’s video from the Institute of Art and Ideas, Professor of Contemporary Literature Robert Eaglestone, theoretical psychologist Nicholas Humphrey and Oxford philosopher Anita Avramides investigate knowing ourselves and others.
This video was produced by The Institute of Art and Ideas and is republished here with permission. It was filmed at HowTheLightGetsIn 2016, along with over 200 other debates and talks. Their new podcast, Philosophy for our times, is available here.