Blackwell Reference Online

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P hilosophy of mind, epistemology The mental process of looking back or recalling one's own past items of consciousness or past actions , for example, for the purpose of finding patterns amongst them. Such a process need not be private. It is more or less the same process as discerning such patterns in the behavior of others. Retrospection is thus not as mysterious as introspection. Ryle , when attacking introspection, argues that since the operation of retrospection can provide whatever information we do have about our own mental states , we do not need to posit the existence of mysterious processes such as introspection and self-consciousness. “Part, then, of what people have in mind, when they speak familiarly of introspecting, is this authentic process of retrospection.” Ryle, The Concept of Mind ... log in or subscribe to read full text