From individual to general experience

Abstract

There has been some debate recently about whether we can come to know what an experience is like that we have not been through ourselves. Mostly, this debate focuses on general phenomenal knowledge. It is asked, for instance, whether we can come to know what it is like to be a refugee generally speaking (as opposed to being some specific refugee). In this paper, I want to add to this debate by trying to come to know how and to what extent someone who has been through the experience in question acquires this sort of general knowledge. I suggest that this form of general phenomenal knowledge is only acquired if the experience one has undergone is typical for the group in question.