is a philosopher working in the Department of Humanities at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. His main interests are in communication, the nature of thought and concepts, and related areas of philosophy of language and cognitive science. He is a co-editor of Sharing Thoughts: Philosophical Perspectives on Intersubjectivity and Communication (2025).
Most of us have had the experience of looking into someone’s eyes and sensing that we know what’s on their mind. Not much is needed for this sense of knowing what someone is thinking: some words, a gesture, a smile, or just a shared gaze. Friends exchange comments about their day and nod affirmatively.
Parents utter ‘Oh my God’ as they watch their toddler take a first step. Commuters give each other a weary glance as the train pulls away without them. Encounters like these involve a meeting of minds – we feel that we understand and are understood.
Having the opportunity to connect with others in this way is gratifying. It provides a sense of belonging to a wider sphere, a sphere where your thoughts and your meanings are not just your thoughts and your meanings. Where they are open to another.
When communication unfolds successfully – when the click happens, or insofar as the click happens – you and another person can seem to be thinking the same thing. This idea transpires in the way people talk: we tend to speak as if we literally share thoughts, as though ideas can flow seamlessly from one mind to another. We often say that we ‘think the same’ or ‘know what’s on somebody’s mind’ or ‘get our thoughts across’.
These are natural illustrations of how much people unreflectively rely on the idea that thoughts are not only shareable but indeed are ordinarily shared in our communicative exchanges. This intuitive picture is old and powerful. Yet the notion that people think the very same thought in successful communication has come under increasing scrutiny.
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