Conscious Experience: A Logical Inquiry

441 Pages·2019·2.86 MB·English

by  Anil Gupta

Conscious
Experience

ANIL GUPTA
Conscious
Experience
a logical
inquiry

Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England
2019
Copyright © 2019 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of Amer i ca
First printing
Jacket design: Jill Breitbarth
Jacket photo: iStock/Getty Images Plus
9780674239593 (EPUB)
9780674239609 (MOBI)
9780674239586 (PDF)
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Names: Gupta, Anil, 1949– author.
Title: Conscious experience : a logical inquiry / Anil Gupta.
Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : Harvard University Press,
2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018023301 | ISBN 9780674987784 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Empiricism. | Consciousness. | Logic. | Perception
(Philosophy)
Classification: LCC B816 .G87 2018 | DDC 128/.4— dc23
LC rec ord available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2018023301
To
Donna
Beloved, beautiful, brilliant

Contents
Preface xi
Précis xix
1 The Prob lem of Conscious Experience 1
1A. Logical and Naturalist Inquiries 1
1B. Skepticism and Russell’s Acquaintance Model of Experience 13
2 A Coherence Theory of Perceptual Judgments 33
2A. Sellars’s Theory of Experience 34
2B. Sellars on the Reasonableness of Perceptual Judgments 45
2C. Critical Observations I 51
2D. Critical Observations II 53
3 Simple Theories of Perceptual Judgments 63
3A. Characterization of Simple Theories 63
3B. Simple Relational Theories 67
viii CoNTeNTs
3C. Simple Informational Theories 72
3D. Simple Intentional Theories 76
3E. Prob lems with the Simple Given 84
4 The Hy po thet i cal Given 92
4A. Rational Transitions 93
4B. General Remarks on Logical Interdependence 105
4C. On Convergence 109
4D. Logical Interdependence and Holism 121
5 Pre sen ta tion and the Transparency of Experience 126
5A. Pre sen ta tion without Acquaintance 127
5B. Moore on the Transparency of Experience 130
5C. Mind- Independence and Externality 137
5D. Phenomenology and Introspection 143
6 Appearances 155
6A. Subjective Identity and Appearances 155
6B. Illusions and Hallucinations 166
6C. Intentionalist Objections 174
7 The Role of Appearances in Cognition 185
7A. The Equivalence Princi ple 185
7B. Connotation and Denotation 197
7C. The Skeptical Meditation 201
7D. Summary of the Account of Experience 211
8 Experience and Concept 218
8A. Historical Introduction 219
8B. Ostensive Definition: Denotation 228
8C. Ostensive Definition: Connotation, Symbol, Concept 242
8D. Conceptual Criticism 252
9 Empirical Transformations 264
9A. Ontology, Logical and Proper 265
9B. Specks, Images, Clouds 276
9C. Conceptions of Color 287
9D. A Sketch of the Dialectical Situation 293
CoNTeNTs ix
10 Empirical Dialectic and Empirical Proofs 299
10A. Empirical and Mathematical Dialectic Compared 300
10B. Some Features of Empirical Proofs 312
10C. Compelling Empirical Proofs 323
11 The General Logic of Empirical Dialectic 333
11A. Rationality and Dialectical Power 333
11B. Ur- Convergence 341
11C. Summary of the Main Features of Empirical Dialectic 344
12 Physicalism from the Logical Point of View 355
12A. Kripke’s Argument against Mental- Physical Identity 356
12B. Types of Physicalism 370
12C. Physicalism within the Bounds of Reason 378
References 385
Index 403