In the fields of epistemology and philosophy of mind it is said the first person (the subject, the self) has privileged access to his own thoughts. This implies the subject has access to (and knows) his own thoughts (has self-knowledge) in such a way that the third person (others) do not. Privileged access can be characterized in two ways:
- Positive characterization: privileged access comes through introspection.
- Negative characterization: knowledge derived from privileged access is not based upon evidences.
Read more about Privileged Access: What Philosophers Say, Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the words privileged and/or access:
“One might feel that, at my age, I should look on life with more gravity. After all, I’ve been privileged to listen, firsthand, to some of the most profound thinkers of my day ... who were all beset by gloom over the condition the world had gotten into. Then why can’t I view it with anything but amusement?”
—Anita Loos (1894–1981)
“In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as our education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves.”
—Saul Bellow (b. 1915)