On Sameness and Identity: A Psychological Study: Being a Contribution to the Foundations of a Theory of KnowledgeFullerton, George Stuart
Philosophy
On Sameness and Identity: A Psychological Study: Being a Contribution to the Foundations of a Theory of Knowledge
Fullerton, George Stuart
Knowledge, Theory of
SEC. 18. In the foregoing I have endeavored to make my list of the
kinds of sameness complete. I can think of nothing that has been
overlooked; but as I have been trying to force a path through a thicket
few have made any sustained effort to penetrate, it is quite possible
my map of the ground may need emendation. I shall be very glad of any
criticism which will help me to improve it. And as the many divisions
made, and the many distinctions drawn, may very possibly tend to
produce in one who has followed the discussion thus far, a state of
mind akin to that of the "true-begotten" Gobbo, when he was obligingly
directed to the Jew's house by his hopeful son, a short summary of the
results obtained may serve to facilitate apprehension and intelligent
criticism.
What has been done is this:
I began by considering the kinds of sameness of things immediately
known, leaving out of consideration for the time being the sameness of
the self or ego. This resulted in the following kinds:
I. Any mental element or complex of mental elements may be said to be
the same with itself at any instant.
II. Any mental element or complex of mental elements in existence at
one time may be called the same with a mental element or complex of
mental elements existing at another time, to indicate that the two are
similar.
III. We may say that we perceive the same object (complex of mental
elements) at two different times, when we do not mean that what is
actually experienced on the two occasions is the same in either of the
preceding senses; but only that the two experiences are terms in a
certain series, the whole of which may be regarded as represented by
any part. In this sense does one see the same tree on two succeeding
days.
IV. Any two mental elements or complexes of mental elements in
consciousness at the one time may be called the same to mark the fact
that they are alike.
V. Any mental element or complex of mental elements may be called the
same with its representative, whether this representative resemble it
or not.
VI. When a man has learned from experience of his own body (as a thing
immediately known) that a consciousness of his body in a certain
peculiar relation to a given object (complex of mental elements) is a
presupposition to a consciousness of the object, and wishes to mark
the fact that he is perceiving or imagining two human bodies in this
relation to a single object, and connecting in thought with each of
them a picture of the object, he may say that he is perceiving or
imagining two men seeing the same object. This sense of the word same
obviously expresses quite a complex thought.
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