Know-how as the cognitive basis of skill

Abstract

This thesis seeks to develop and defend conceptions of know-how that shed light on the state's theoretical role as the cognitive basis of skilled action. In Chapter 1, 1 propose an account of knowhow based on the idea of information being accessible for a purpose. I argue that an account of this form sheds new light on the explanatory relationship between knowing how to o and being able to o. In Chapter 2, I develop the core components of a cognitivist, yet rule-free, conception of know-how. I show how this conception better accommodates the phenomenology of fluent skilled action and provides resources for a new way of thinking about practical modes of presentation. In Chapter 3, I explore the relationship between the know-how/know-that distinction and socioeconomic inequality