seems to me certain that this particular argument constitutes no such
reason.
And I think that those who suppose that it does are apt to be
influenced by an assumption, for which also, so far as I can see,
there is no reason. I have admitted that the only reason I can see for
supposing that sensibles which we experience ever exist unexperienced,
seems to lead to the conclusion that the sensibles which would be seen
by a colour-blind man, if he occupied exactly the position which I, who
am not colour-blind, now occupy, exist now, just as much as those which
I now see. And it may be thought that this implies that the sensibles,
which he would see, and which would certainly be very different from
those which I see, are nevertheless at this moment in exactly the same
place as those which I see. Now, for my part, I am not prepared to
admit that it is impossible they should be in the same place. But the
assumption against which I wish to protest, is the assumption that,
if they exist at all, they _must_ be in the same place. I can see no
reason whatever for this assumption. And hence any difficulties there
may be in the way of supposing that they could be in the same place at
the same time as the sensibles which I see, do not at all apply to my
hypothesis, which is only that they exist _now, not_ that they exist
_in the same place_ in which mine do.
On this question, therefore, as to whether sensibles ever exist at
times when they are not experienced, I have only to say (1) that I
think there is certainly no good reason whatever for asserting that
_no_ sensibles do; and (2) that I think perhaps a certain amount of
weight ought to be attached to our instinctive belief that certain
kinds of sensibles do; and that here again any special arguments which
may be brought forward to show that, whether some sensibles exist
unexperienced or not, _this_ kind certainly do not, are, so far as I
can see, wholly inconclusive.
(II)
I now pass to the question how sensibles are related to physical
objects. And here I want to say, to begin with, that I feel extremely
puzzled about the whole subject. I find it extremely difficult to
distinguish clearly from one another the different considerations which
ought to be distinguished; and all I can do is to raise, more or less
vaguely, certain questions as to how certain _particular_ sensibles
are related to certain _particular_ physical objects, and to give
the reasons which seem to me to have most weight for answering these
questions in one way rather than another. I feel that all that I can
say is very tentative.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account