Mary and Propositional Knowledge

Abstract

I introduce what I call the Propositional Stance – the consensual claim that Frank Jackson’s Mary acquires new propositional knowledge – and discuss two prominent arguments that have been put forth in its favor. The first argument concerns the semantics of what-it-is-like sentences. The second argument concerns the epistemology of phenomenal belief. I argue that both arguments are unconvincing or lead to undesirable consequences, and then motivate non- propositional knowledge approaches to the puzzle of The Knowledge Argument.