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THE CONCEPT of the SENSE-DATUM in the PERCEPTUAL ESSAYS of GE MOORE. the Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1966 Philosophy

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THE CONCEPT of the SENSE-DATUM in the PERCEPTUAL ESSAYS of GE MOORE. the Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1966 Philosophy This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 6 7 -2 5 5 1 TITCHENER, John McLellan, 1937- THE CONCEPT OF THE SENSE-DATUM IN THE PERCEPTUAL ESSAYS OF G. E. MOORE. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1966 Philosophy University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan THE CONCEPT OE THE 3EN5E-DATUM IN THE PERCEPTUAL ESSAYS OF G.E. MOORE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By John McLellan Titchoner, A.B., M.A., T.l.A. The Ohio State University 1966 Approved by Department of Philosophy PREFACE This dissertation has grown out of a seminar led by Professor Morris Weitz on G.E. Moore. During the course of the seminar I became convinced that no one of Moore1s arguments for the existence of sensc-data was a sound one but felt that I did not understand why Moore employed the notion. I was not, and an not, sure that he intended the introductions of sensc-data to be good arguments. The dissertation attempts to place the concept of the sense-datum in a larger framework 'which will explain the uses to which Moore put the notion. I an indebted to Professor Weitz whose encourage­ ment got me started on what has turned out to be a most interesting project. I an also indebted to Professor Robert Turnbull who, during Professor V/eitz's leave of absence, took on a half-finishcd dissertation and unstintingly gave me his time and. the benefit of his criticism. To my wife who has with great patience awaited the completion of this work I am most deeply indebted for her help and encouragement• J . ‘ i. T. June i 9 6 0 ii June- 1 0, 1 9 3 7 3orn--Coliim.bus, Ohio 1 9 ^ 8 A.3., Kenyon College, G-ainbier, Ohio 1980 M.A., The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 1960-1961 Or actuate Study, The University of Melbourne, Parlrville, Victoria, Australia 1 9 6 1 Full-Time Teaching f e l l o w (Junior Tutor) T'onash Universitv, Clavton Victoria, Australia 1 9 6- 21 9 6ii. Graduate Study, The Ohio State University 1963-19611- Graduate Assistant, The Ohio State University 196J1-I966 Instructor, Depauw University, Greencastle, Indiana 1 9 6 5 II.A., The University of Melbourne Parkvillo, Victoria, Australia CONTENTS Page PREFACE ii VITA . , ill Chapter I. THE INTRODUCTION OF SENSE-DATA . Introduction to the Problem • • • 1 The Need for a New Approach • • • 3 Specification of the Problem . • 7 Some Terms Defined • •••••• 10 Senses of ’See* ......... 11 The Method of Restriction .... 17 The Method of Selection • . • . • 21 The Method of the Ultimate Subject 26 The Linguistic Method •••••• The Method of Intentionality • • 3i The Method of After-Images • • • Sk Comments on the Methods • • • • • k - 7 II. MOORE ON HIS PREDECESSORS 55 The Lockean View ..... 55 Source Views ••••••• The Mill-Russell View . 63 The Mill-Russell View again 72 Comments on the Objections 80 III. FOUR CRITICS 88 Cx.A. Paul on Sense-Datum Problems 88 O.K. Bouwsma on Moore’s Theory . 95 Comments on Paul and Bouwsma • • Ryle on Conceptual Elucidation • 108 A.R. White’s Interpretation . • . 119 iv Chapter Page IV. THE LARGER P I C T U R E .....................139 Sensation in RI •••••••••• lj Later Accounts of Sensation • • • • Kinds of Object •••••••••• 15»5> Analytic Techniques »••••••• 159 Sense-Data and Realism .......... l68 Concluding Comments .......... • 179 v CHAPTER I THE INTRODUCTION OF SENSE-DATA Introduction to the Problem#--Many contemporary British philosophers no longer display the interest shown by their predecessors in questions concerning sense-data# In fact one reading the essays of such philosophers as Gilbert Ryle or the late Professor Austin comes to expect an argument or two directed against what is called the ’’sense-datum theory,” George Edward Moore did not follow this change of fashion. An essay3- of his published in 1957 contains what looks, at first sight at least, to be an unequivocal assertion of the existence of some thing or event called a sense-datum# Nevertheless I find it exceedingly difficult to argue that Moore had a ’’sense-datum theory#” That he was interested in philosophical questions raised by people who talked about sense-data is indisputable# Some of his essays deal with the sense-datum directly(’’The Status of Sense-Data,” ’’Some Judgements of Perception,” ^-G.E. Moore, “Visual Sense-Data,’’ British Phi­ losophy in the Mid-Century, ed# C.A. Mace (New YorETT Macmillan Co.,1957)• Hereafter cited as VSD. 1 "A Reply to My Critics,” and "Visual Sense-Data"^) while others discuss larger issues which involve sense-datum questions. His "A Defense of Common Sense” and "Proof of an External World”3 are good examples of essays the content of which includes discussions of sense-data# Usually a man with a theory about pterodactyls or substance or prime numbers starts off by telling us what he will talk about and then goes on to talk about it. Or perhaps he might start by telling us the burning question which his theory is designed to answer, Moore does not do either of these things clearly— if at all#. In the essays mentioned above (which I shall call the perceptual essays) he attempted in a number of different ways to indicate just what it was that he wanted to talk about; he then went on to raise a number of quite differ­ ent sorts of question about that subject matter# It seems to me that the perceptual essays present us with a peculiarly philosophical problem— the specification of the problem. We do not know just where to begin, what 2g .E. Moore, "The Status of Sense-Data," "Some Judgements of Perception," Philosophical Studies (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd, i9&0)• Hereafter cited as SSD, SJP, and Studies, "A Reply to My Critics," The Philosophy of G.E# Moore, ed# Paul Arthur Schilpp (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 19^2), Hereafter cited as REP and Schilpp. 3g .E. Moore, "A Defense of Common Sense," "Proof of an External World," Philosophical Papers (New York: Collier Books, 1^62)• Hereafter cited as DCS, PEW, and Papers. questions to ask, or what would count as an answer to a proper question, I shall attempt to provide an inter­ pretation of the perceptual essays which will explain these difficulties by showing how they arise. The Need for a New Approach,— But in doing this I obviously walk on a trail blazed by my betters. One could ask what I might say that.,has not been said more astutely by some of the very able critics who have written about these essays. To this question I would offer two answers. In the first place some of the critics, such as O.K. Bouwsma,^* feel that they have specified the problem and found Moore’s answer wanting. But often this specifi­ cation of the problem is based on only one of the essays. In such cases not all the evidence Is in. I shall, for Instance, argue that Bouwsma*s reading of Moore is in­ compatible with a number of essays in which Moore deals directly with questions about sense-data. Then I would suggest that, to the best of my knowledge, there has been only one attempt to specify the problem or problems which considered all of the perceptual essays. A.R. White makes this attempt in his recent book G.E. Moore: A Critical Exposition.5 Although I believe that White ^l-See O.K. Bouwsma, ’'Moore * s Theory of Sense-Data," The Philosophy of G.E. Moore, ed. Paul Arthur Schilpp (Evanston! Northwestern University, 19^4-2). ^Alan R, White, G.E. Moore: A Critical Exposition, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 195^)• has failed some of his ideas are worth saving. Indeed much of what I have to say takes the form of a three- cornered conversation in which Moore, White, and I take part. The contemporary reaction against sense-datum theories usually takes one of two forms. Sometimes people say, as Bouwsma does, that a sense-datum theory really is not a theory at all because it pretends to talk about a thing or event called a sense-datum as though it were the proper object of a scientific study* But when we investigate this claim we find out that this simply is not the case for no conceivable evidence would count against an hypothesis asserting the existence of sense- data. Thus the hypothesis is subject to the death of a thousand qualifications and turns out not to be an empir­ ically verifiable claim. Nevertheless sense-datum hypotheses masquerade as empirical claims for people ask questions about the existence of, or properties of, sense data just as they might ask about the nature of or past existence of pterodactyls. The other contemporary reaction is quite different. I shall call it the synonym view for reasons which I hope will become clear. The philosopher who accepts this viewpoint explains sense-datum theories away by main­ taining that they merely say in a technical way something which we have non-technical ways of saying. The 5 locus classicus of this view is G.A. Paul's excellent essay "Is There A Problem About Sense-Data?"^ Paul argues that 'sense-daturn* is a technical philosophical term. Its introduction has been defended on the grounds that it makes possible the precise formulation of views which can not be stated without it. In that sense the term allows its user to get "closer to the facts." If vague terms lead to vague theories then one should look for precise terms, Paul does not believe that the term 'sense-datum' can be used to say anything which cannot be said without it and suggests that one might speak instead of "appearances." We shall see that this is an overly simple account of a very subtle argument; but for the moment I shall characterize the synonym view in this way and cite Paul's essay as an instance of it.
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