follow that the physical world does not include all that we are aware
of, and that images, which are introspective data, have to be regarded,
for the present, as not obeying the laws of physics; this is, I think,
one of the chief reasons why an attempt is made to reject them. I
shall try to show in Lecture VIII that the purely empirical reasons for
accepting images are overwhelming. But we cannot be nearly so certain
that they will not ultimately be brought under the laws of physics. Even
if this should happen, however, they would still be distinguishable
from sensations by their proximate causal laws, as gases remain
distinguishable from solids.
* "Psychological Review," 1916, "Thought-Content and
Feeling," p. 59. See also ib., 1912, "The Nature of
Perceived Relations," where he says: "'Introspection,'
divested of its mythological suggestion of the observing of
consciousness, is really the observation of bodily
sensations (sensibles) and feelings (feelables)"(p. 427 n.).
(3) CAN WE OBSERVE ANYTHING INTRINSICALLY DIFFERENT FROM SENSATIONS? We
come now to our third question concerning introspection. It is commonly
thought that by looking within we can observe all sorts of things that
are radically different from the constituents of the physical world,
e.g. thoughts, beliefs, desires, pleasures, pains and emotions. The
difference between mind and matter is increased partly by emphasizing
these supposed introspective data, partly by the supposition that matter
is composed of atoms or electrons or whatever units physics may at the
moment prefer. As against this latter supposition, I contend that
the ultimate constituents of matter are not atoms or electrons, but
sensations, and other things similar to sensations as regards extent and
duration. As against the view that introspection reveals a mental world
radically different from sensations, I propose to argue that thoughts,
beliefs, desires, pleasures, pains and emotions are all built up out
of sensations and images alone, and that there is reason to think that
images do not differ from sensations in their intrinsic character. We
thus effect a mutual rapprochement of mind and matter, and reduce the
ultimate data of introspection (in our second sense) to images alone. On
this third view of the meaning of introspection, therefore, our decision
is wholly against it.
There remain two points to be considered concerning introspection. The
first is as to how far it is trustworthy; the second is as to whether,
even granting that it reveals no radically different STUFF from that
revealed by what might be called external perception, it may not reveal
different RELATIONS, and thus acquire almost as much importance as is
traditionally assigned to it.
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