ABSTRACT
As far as I know, the term “externalism” is not used prominently by any of the philosophers on this panel to describe his own views. 1 The popularity of the term has been, I think, inversely proportional to its clarity. Like the term “naturalism,” “externalism” warmly welcomes a running together of different doctrines, perhaps in the interests of a felt solidarity among those in need of asserting allegiance to a cause. Much of the problem lies in unclarity about what is external to what. Some answers to such a question use terms like “meaning,” “proposition,” and “content” whose uses vary widely among philosophers. I want to make a few remarks about important differences among views that have been labeled “externalist.” I will lay aside epistemic externalisms and focus entirely on externalisms relevant to language and mind.
