The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy, and other essays in contemporary thoughtDewey, John
Philosophy
The Influence of Darwin on Philosophy, and other essays in contemporary thought
Dewey, John
Evolution; Philosophy; Pragmatism
“Feeling,” I read in a recent article, “feeling is immediately
acquainted with its own quality, with its own subjective being.”[8] How
and whence this duplication in the inwards of feeling into feeling
the knower and feeling the known? into feeling as being and feeling
as acquaintance? Let us frankly deny such monsters. Feeling _is_
its own quality; is its own _specific_ (whence and why, once more,
_subjective_?) being. If this statement be dogmatism, it is at least
worth insistent declaration, were it only by way of counter-irritant
to that other dogmatism which asserts that being in “consciousness” is
always presence for or in knowledge. So let us repeat once more, that
to be a smell (or anything else) is one thing, to be _known_ as smell,
another; to be a “feeling” one thing, to be _known_ as a “feeling”
another.[9] The first is thinghood; existence indubitable, direct;
in this way all things _are_ that are in “consciousness” at all.[10]
The second is _reflected_ being, things indicating and calling for
other things--something offering the possibility of truth and hence
of falsity. The first is genuine immediacy; the second is (in the
instance discussed) a pseudo-immediacy, which in the same breath that
it proclaims its immediacy smuggles in another term (and one which
is unexperienced both in itself and in its relation) the subject or
“consciousness,” to which the immediate is related.[11]
But we need not remain with dogmatic assertions. To be acquainted
with a thing or with a person has a definite empirical meaning; we
have only to call to mind what it is to be genuinely and empirically
acquainted, to have done forever with this uncanny presence which,
though bare and simple presence, is yet known, and thus is clothed
upon and complicated. To be acquainted with a thing is to be assured
(from the standpoint of the experience itself) that it is of such and
such a character; that it will behave, if given an opportunity, in
such and such a way; that the obviously and flagrantly present trait
is associated with fellow traits that will show themselves, if the
leadings of the present trait are followed out. To be acquainted is
to anticipate to some extent, on the basis of prior experience. I am,
say, barely acquainted with Mr. Smith: then I have no extended body of
associated qualities along with those palpably present, but at least
some one suggested trait occurs; his nose, his tone of voice, the
place where I saw him, his calling in life, an interesting anecdote
about him, etc. To be acquainted is to know what a thing is _like_ in
some particular. If one is acquainted with the smell of a flower it
means that the smell is not just smell, but reminds one of some other
experienced thing which stands in continuity with the smell. There is
thus supplied a condition of control over or purchase upon what is
present, the possibility of translating it into terms of some other
trait not now sensibly present.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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