The Two Types of Phenomenalism
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Phenomenalism responds to scepticism about the physical world by making a logical link between our experience and the world of physical objects. There are two famous defences of Phenomenalism: Mills metaphysical account and Ayers linguistic account.
MILLS PHENOMENALISM
John Stuart Mill (An Examination of Sir William Hamiltons Philosophy, Ch. 11) begins by
saying we have only our experience to go on in establishing what there is. When we
interact with material objects, for example looking for something on a desk, we are
presented with a series of new sensations. Certain sensations which were possible come
about. I could move this piece of paper, and experience the colour of the surface beneath
it. There are all sorts of possible sensations that would occur under certain conditions.
We have come, from experience, to expect this sequence of sensation; we are certain it
will happen. And so we come to think of certain possibilities for sensation as being
permanently available, under certain conditions. Material objects are permanent
possibilities of sensation.
We associate certain sensations, and the possibilities of other sensations, together, since
whenever I have one sensation, the conditions of having another associated with it are to
hand. These clusters of possible sensations are what material objects are. A piece of
paper is the permanent possibility of certain sensations that we associate together. Only
some of the sensations in fact occur; but the material object is a collection of those that
do and those that could occur. We derive the complexity of ideas of space, distance,
perspective from the complex associations between sensations that we make
(automatically – none of this need be thought through!).
We then think of material objects as the cause of the sensations that do occur. This isnt
exactly wrong, though perhaps it is peculiar to think of a collection of possibilities
causing an actuality. Where we do go wrong, Mill thinks, is if we think this cause is
something that could exist quite independent on sensation. This is something we cannot
know, and could only lead to scepticism. Instead, there is no logical gap between
appearance and reality.
AYERS LINGUISTIC PHENOMENALISM
A J Ayer takes a different tack (Language, Truth and Logic, Ch. 3). He defends
phenomenalism through his analysis of statements concerning material objects. He
claims that the function of philosophy is to give definitions in use, showing how the
sentences in which a symbol or type of symbol (such as table or words for material
objects generally) occurs can be translated into equivalent sentences which dont contain
it or its synonyms. (He contrasts this with dictionary definitions, in which symbols are
defined in terms of synonyms.) Philosophical definitions, then, can deepen our
understanding of terms in a way dictionary definitions do not, i.e. they can still be
informative to someone who already knows what all the terms mean in the dictionary
sense.
It can happen that we discover the term is standing in for something more complex.