• Philosophy -> Epistemology and Theory of Knowledge

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Are there any prominent philosophers who reject externalism?

Leonardo Killigrew

Yes, there are some philosophers who reject externalism. These are people who believe that our thoughts and knowledge come only from within ourselves, rather than from the external world around us. They think that our mind is self-contained and doesn't need any help from the outside.

One famous philosopher who held this view was René Descartes. He argued that we can only be certain of things that we can know in our own minds, such as thoughts and ideas. He believed that the physical world around us could be deceiving, and that we needed to rely on our own reasoning and thinking in order to find truth and knowledge.

Another philosopher who rejected externalism was Immanuel Kant. He believed that our mind has certain built-in structures or categories that we use to organize our experiences and make sense of the world. These structures are not determined by anything outside of our own minds, but are a part of our innate human nature.

Despite these philosophers' rejection of externalism, many other thinkers do still believe that our knowledge comes in part from the world outside of us. They argue that we need to rely on our senses and our interactions with the world around us in order to form beliefs and understandings.

In the end, whether we believe in externalism or not, the important thing is to keep questioning and exploring the world around us, and to never stop seeking knowledge and truth.