DOCSLIB.ORG

Wittgenstein's Method in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations. A

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Wittgenstein's Method in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations. A Wittgenstein's Method in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations. A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts David T. Schwan June 2009 © 2009 David T. Schwan. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Wittgenstein's Method in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations. by DAVID T. SCHWAN has been approved for the Department of Philosophy and the College of Arts and Sciences by Arthur Zucker Associate Professor of Philosophy Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 Abstract SCHWAN, DAVID T., M.A., June 2009, Philosophy Wittgenstein's Method in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations (61 pp.) Director of Thesis: Arthur Zucker Wittgenstein directly addresses the nature of philosophy (and philosophical problems) both in the Investigations and in much of his writing and conversation outside that text. I will argue for an interpretation of Wittgenstein’s philosophical method in the Philosophical Investigations based on 1) his conversations and lectures during his years at Cambridge, 2) his views expressed in the Blue Book and 3) his views expressed in the Big Typescript. My goal is to ‘take Wittgenstein at his word’ and examine his comments on philosophy in many different contexts. Given the cohesive nature of Wittgenstein’s views on philosophy in the 1930’s, I will argue that §§109-133 in the Philosophical Investigations represents the coherent method that Wittgenstein employed throughout his ‘later’ years. Approved: _____________________________________________________________ Arthur Zucker Associate Professor of Philosophy 4 Acknowledgments I want to thank Dr. Zucker for his comments and suggestions as the draft progressed. I also want to thank my committee members, Dr. Bender and Dr. Petrik for being willing readers. I have especially appreciated the patience and encouragement of my wife, Emilie. I promise I will not say ‘Wittgenstein’ again for quite a while (although I will think it). Someone once said that working on philosophy “is actually closer to working on oneself.” I think he was right. 5 Table of Contents Page Abstract ............................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... 4 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... 6 Wittgenstein’s Method in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations ........................ 7 Chapter One- Wittgenstein’s Method in his Lectures ......................................................... 9 Wittgenstein on the History of Philosophy ..................................................................... 9 Wittgenstein’s Method .................................................................................................. 12 1. T-Philosophy presents us with muddles/confusions/puzzles/tensions. ................. 12 2. To solve a particular puzzle we must give new pictures, analogies. .................... 16 Chapter Two- Wittgenstein’s Method in the Blue Book ................................................... 25 1. A picture has misled philosophers (Investigations) .................................................. 27 1a. A picture has misled philosophers (Blue Book). ..................................................... 28 2. Philosophy is purely descriptive (Investigations) .................................................... 30 2a. Philosophy is purely descriptive (Blue Book). ....................................................... 32 3. The dissolution of philosophical problems (Investigations). .................................... 36 3a. The dissolution of philosophical problems (Blue Book). ........................................ 39 Chapter Three- Wittgenstein’s Method in The Big Typescript ......................................... 41 David Stern’s Wittgenstein ........................................................................................... 43 The significance of the Big Typescript ......................................................................... 44 Further problems with Stern’s view .............................................................................. 46 Concluding Remarks: The Hertz quotation ...................................................................... 54 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 59 6 Abbreviations I will draw heavily on the following texts and will refer to them by the abbreviations below: Flowers, F.A. (ed.) Portraits of Wittgenstein, 4 vols. Bristol: Thoemmes Press, 1999. POW Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Wittgenstein’s Lectures: Cambridge, 1930-1932 and 1932-1935. Chicago: University Chicago Press, 1989. CL Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Wittgenstein in Cambridge, ed. Brain McGuinness. Massachusetts: Blackwell, 2008. I will cite this text as ‘WIC’ (e.g., WIC, 293). WIC Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Philosophical Investigations, ed. and translated by G.E.M. Anscombe. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1958. PI Wittgenstein, Ludwig. The Blue and Brown Books. New York: Harper, 1965. BB Wittgenstein, Ludwig. The Big Typescript: TS 213, ed. and translated by C.G. Luckhardt & Maximilian A.E. Aue. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. BT 7 Wittgenstein’s Method in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations There are many Wittgensteins. In fact, the trend in recent literature seems to be to give an account of the growing number of accounts of Wittgenstein.1 This growing literature has even spawned further debates about classifying types of approaches to Wittgenstein.2 Much of the modern literature focuses on understanding the method(s) at work in the writings of Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein directly addresses the nature of philosophy (and philosophical problems) both in the Investigations and in much of his writing and conversation outside that text. I believe that much of this contextual material is beneficial in understanding the methodology at work in the Investigations and as Savickey points out, this biographical emphasis is quite underrepresented in the current literature on Wittgenstein.3 Since the majority of scholars agree that during the mid-1930’s there was a noticeable shift in Wittgenstein’s approach, I will focus on records beginning in this time period. 4 In Chapter One, I will argue for an interpretation of Wittgenstein’s philosophical method based on his conversations and lectures during his years at Cambridge in the 1930’s. My goal is to ‘take Wittgenstein at his word’ and examine his various comments on philosophy in many different contexts. My hope is that by assembling a wide range of 1 David Stern, “How Many Wittgensteins?” in Wittgenstein: The philosopher and his works, edited by Alois Pichler and Simo Säätelä (Bergen: Wittgenstein Archives at the University of Bergen, 2005), 205- 229. Also, Hans-Johann Glock. “Was Wittgenstein and Analytic Philosopher?” Metaphilosophy 34 (2004): 419-444. 2 Phil Hutchinson, “What’s the Point of Elucidation?” Metaphilosophy 38 (2007): 691-713. Also, see book review by Hutchinson and Read, “Whose Wittgenstein?” Philosophy 80 (2005): 431-461. 3 Beth Savickey, Wittgenstein’s Art of Investigation, (London: Routledge, 1999), 2-3. 4 The following are recent scholars’ views on the earliest dates for Wittgenstein’s later philosophy: Hanfling (1989), 1933-34. Stern (1995), 1934-36. Baker & Hacker (1980-1996), 1930-2 (manuscripts) and BT 213 (assembled 1932-322). Savickey (1999), 1930-32. Rhees (1958), 1933-35. Hilmy (1987), early 1930’s. 8 material, I can shed light on later parts of his work where his comments on philosophy seem more obscure. In Chapter Two, I will examine the Blue Book. This text was produced as a dictation during Wittgenstein’s time at Cambridge in the 1930’s. Since it was dictated to students during Wittgenstein’s lectures at Cambridge, I will treat it as an auxiliary lecture. Although not intended for a wide audience, The Blue Book is an important resource since it makes several explicit references to philosophy in a rather direct style. I will argue that there is a strong correlation between many statements in the Blue Book and those in §§109-133 of the Philosophical Investigations and that they represent the same position regarding philosophical method. In Chapter Three, I will examine several comments in the Big Typescript. The final assembly of the Investigations is a complex affair, but a large number of the comments in the ‘Philosophy’ section of the Investigations were taken directly from the Big Typescript, which was assembled in 1933 from manuscripts and notebooks written as early as 1930. Given the cohesive nature of Wittgenstein’s views on philosophy in the 1930’s, I will argue that §§109-133 in the Philosophical Investigations represent the coherent method that Wittgenstein employed throughout his ‘later’ years. 9 Chapter One- Wittgenstein’s Method in his Lectures In this chapter, I will outline Wittgenstein’s broad view of philosophy from 1930 onwards. Wittgenstein frequently commented on philosophy (in general) and his particular methods in philosophy. However, in many cases, he was responding critically to problems that he saw with philosophy as it was traditionally practiced. I will present Wittgenstein’s ‘later’ methodology and the product of this method. Wittgenstein
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Rethinking Fideism Through the Lens of Wittgenstein's Engineering Outlook
    University of Dayton eCommons Religious Studies Faculty Publications Department of Religious Studies 2012 Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook Brad Kallenberg University of Dayton, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/rel_fac_pub Part of the Catholic Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons, Other Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons eCommons Citation Kallenberg, Brad, "Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook" (2012). Religious Studies Faculty Publications. 82. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/rel_fac_pub/82 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Religious Studies at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Religious Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Note: This is the accepted manuscript for the following article: Kallenberg, Brad J. “Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook.” International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 71, no. 1 (2012): 55-73. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11153-011-9327-0 Rethinking Fideism through the Lens of Wittgenstein’s Engineering Outlook Brad J. Kallenberg University of Dayton, 2011 In an otherwise superbly edited compilation of student notes from Wittgenstein’s 1939 Lectures on the Foundations of Mathematics, Cora Diamond makes an false step that reveals to us our own tendencies to misread Wittgenstein. The student notes she collated attributed the following remark to a student named Watson: “The point is that these [data] tables do not by themselves determine that one builds the bridge in this way: only the tables together with certain scientific theory determine that.”1 But Diamond thinks this a mistake, presuming instead to change the manuscript and put these words into the mouth of Wittgenstein.
    [Show full text]
  • David Suchoff Family Resemblances: Ludwig Wittgenstein As a Jewish Philosopher the Admonition to Silence with Which Wittgenstein
    David Suchoff Family Resemblances: Ludwig Wittgenstein as a Jewish Philosopher The admonition to silence with which Wittgenstein ended the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (1922) also marks the starting point for the emer- gence of his Jewish philosophical voice. Karl Kraus provides an instructive contrast: as a writer well known to Wittgenstein, Kraus’s outspoken and aggressive ridicule of “jüdeln” or “mauscheln” –the actual or alleged pronunciation of German with a Jewish or Yiddish accent – defined a “self-fashioning” of Jewish identity – from German and Hebrew in this case – that modeled false alternatives in philosophic terms.1 Kraus pre- sented Wittgenstein with an either-or choice between German and Jewish identity, while engaging in a witty but also unwitting illumination of the interplay between apparently exclusive alternatives that were linguistically influenced by the other’s voice. As Kraus became a touchstone for Ger- man Jewish writers from Franz Kafka to Walter Benjamin and Gershom Scholem, he also shed light on the situation that allowed Wittgenstein to develop his own non-essentialist notion of identity, as the term “family resemblance” emerged from his revaluation of the discourse around Judaism. This transition from The False Prison, as David Pears calls Wittgenstein’s move from the Tractatus to the Philosophical Investiga- tions, was also a transformation of the opposition between German and Jewish “identities,” and a recovery of the multiple differences from which such apparently stable entities continually draw in their interconnected forms of life.2 “I’ll teach you differences,” the line from King Lear that Wittgenstein mentioned to M. O’C. Drury as “not bad” as a “motto” for the Philo- sophical Investigations, in this way represents Wittgenstein’s assertion of a German Jewish philosophic position.
    [Show full text]
  • Intentionality in Kant and Wittgensetin
    Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato Volume 6 Article 5 2006 Intentionality in Kant and Wittgensetin Ryan Feldbrugge Minnesota State University, Mankato Follow this and additional works at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur Part of the Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Feldbrugge, Ryan (2006) "Intentionality in Kant and Wittgensetin," Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 6 , Article 5. Available at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol6/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Research Center at Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato by an authorized editor of Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. Feldbrugge: Intentionality in Kant and Wittgensetin INTENTIONALITY IN KANT AND WITTGENSTEIN Ryan Feldbrugge (Philosophy) Dr. Richard Liebendorfer, Faculty Mentor, Philosophy How is thought about and experience of a world possible? This has been the framing question of the present work and it is generally understood as the problem of intentionality. The more specific problem dealt with has been whether or not intentionality has an internal structure that can be made explicit through science, particularly cognitive science. In his Critique of Pure Reason, Immanuel Kant outlines an internal, mental structure that, when imposed on our sensory data, makes thought about and experience of a world possible, which can be viewed as highly anticipatory of modern cognitive science. On the other hand, there are a number of philosophers who have it that the structure of intentionality cannot be made explicit nor can it be understood within science, notably Ludwig Wittgenstein.
    [Show full text]
  • David Lewis on Convention
    David Lewis on Convention Ernie Lepore and Matthew Stone Center for Cognitive Science Rutgers University David Lewis’s landmark Convention starts its exploration of the notion of a convention with a brilliant insight: we need a distinctive social competence to solve coordination problems. Convention, for Lewis, is the canonical form that this social competence takes when it is grounded in agents’ knowledge and experience of one another’s self-consciously flexible behavior. Lewis meant for his theory to describe a wide range of cultural devices we use to act together effectively; but he was particularly concerned in applying this notion to make sense of our knowledge of meaning. In this chapter, we give an overview of Lewis’s theory of convention, and explore its implications for linguistic theory, and especially for problems at the interface of the semantics and pragmatics of natural language. In §1, we discuss Lewis’s understanding of coordination problems, emphasizing how coordination allows for a uniform characterization of practical activity and of signaling in communication. In §2, we introduce Lewis’s account of convention and show how he uses it to make sense of the idea that a linguistic expression can come to be associated with its meaning by a convention. Lewis’s account has come in for a lot of criticism, and we close in §3 by addressing some of the key difficulties in thinking of meaning as conventional in Lewis’s sense. The critical literature on Lewis’s account of convention is much wider than we can fully survey in this chapter, and so we recommend for a discussion of convention as a more general phenomenon Rescorla (2011).
    [Show full text]
  • Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?
    When Intentions Go Public Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap? Peter M. Gollwitzer,1,2 Paschal Sheeran,3 Verena Michalski,2 and Andrea E. Seifert2 1New York University, 2UniversitdJ Konstanz, and 3University of Sheffield ABSTRACT-Based on Lewiniangoal theory in general and countability-related features of the audience (e.g., competence, self-completion theory in particular, four experiments ex­ power) and the individual (e.g., identifiability, expectations of amined the implications of other people taking notice of having to explain oneself) affect the strength of public-com­ one~ identity-related behavioral intentions (e.g., the in­ mitment effects. tention to read law periodicals regularly to reach the Both of these lines of research focus on intentions in which the identity goal of becoming a lawyer). Identity-related be­ specified behavior is a desired outcome in and of itself. Lewin havioral intentions that had been noticed by other people (1926) and his colleagues (e.g., Mahler, 1935; Ovsiankina, were translated into action less intensively than those that 1928), however, argued that people often construe behavioral had been ignored (Studies 1-3). This effect was evident in intentions in more general terms, thus allowing substitution of the field (persistent striving over 1 week~time; Study 1) means for attainment. For instance, consider a student who has and in the laboratory (jumping on opportunities to act; started an assigned math task with the intention to successfully Studies 2 and 3), and it held among participants with solve the required addition problems. During the process, this strong but not weak commitment to the identity goal (Study student may construe the intention as being to demonstrate 3).
    [Show full text]
  • Expressions of Mind/Body Dualism in Thinspiration
    MIND OVER MATTER: EXPRESSIONS OF MIND/BODY DUALISM IN THINSPIRATION Annamarie O’Brien A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS August 2013 Committee: Dr. Marilyn Motz, Advisor Dr. Rebecca Kinney Dr. Jeremy Wallach © 2013 Annamarie O’Brien All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Marilyn Motz, Advisor Thinspiration images, meant to inspire weight-loss, proliferate online through platforms that encourage the circulation of user-generated content. Despite numerous alarmist critiques in mass media about thinspiration and various academic studies investigating ‘pro-anorexia’ sites, surprisingly little attention has been given to the processes of creation and the symbolic potential of thinspiration. This thesis analyzes the formal hybridity of thinspiration, and its use as an expressive medium. The particularities of thinspiration (including its visual characteristics, creative processes, and exhibition) may be considered carefully constructed instances of self- representation, hinging on the expression of beliefs regarding the mind and body. While these beliefs are deeply entrenched in popular body management discourse, they also tend to rely on traditional dualist ideologies. Rather than simply emphasizing slenderness or reiterating standard assumptions about beauty, thinspiration often evokes pain and sadness, and employs truisms about the transcendence of flesh and rebellion against social constraints. By harnessing individualist discourse and the values of mind/body dualism, thinspiration becomes a space in which people struggling with disordered eating and body image issues may cast themselves as active agents—contrary to the image of eating disorders proffered by popular and medical discourse. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to thank my thesis committee chair, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • 6 X 10.5 Long Title.P65
    Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-83843-6 - Seeing Wittgenstein Anew Edited by William Day and Victor J. Krebs Frontmatter More information Seeing Wittgenstein Anew Seeing Wittgenstein Anew is the first collection to examine Ludwig Wittgenstein’s remarks on the concept of aspect-seeing. These essays show that aspect-seeing was not simply one more topic of in- vestigation in Wittgenstein’s later writings, but, rather, that it was a pervasive and guiding concept in his efforts to turn philosophy’s attention to the actual conditions of our common life in language. Arranged in sections that highlight the pertinence of the aspect- seeing remarks to aesthetic and moral perception, self-knowledge, mind and consciousness, linguistic agreement, philosophical therapy, and “seeing connections,” the sixteen essays, which were specially commissioned for this volume, demonstrate the unity of not only Philosophical Investigations but also Wittgenstein’s later thought as a whole. They open up novel paths across familiar fields of thought: the objectivity of interpretation, the fixity of the past, the acquisition of language, and the nature of human conscious- ness. Significantly, they exemplify how continuing consideration of the interrelated phenomena and concepts surrounding aspect- seeing might produce a fruitful way of doing philosophy. William Day is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Le Moyne College. A recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, he has written articles on aesthetics and moral per- fectionist thought, with particular focus on the work of Wittgenstein, Cavell, Emerson, and Confucian thinkers. Victor J. Krebs is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    [Show full text]
  • Another Look at the New Wittgenstein
    The Quest for Purity: Another Look at the New Wittgenstein «The Quest for Purity: Another Look at the New Wittgenstein» by Martin Stokhof Source: Croatian Journal of Philosophy (Croatian Journal of Philosophy), issue: 33 / 2011, pages: 275-294, on www.ceeol.com. Croatian Journal of Philosophy Vol. XI, No. 33, 2011 The Quest for Purity: Another Look at the New Wittgenstein MARTIN STOKHOF ILLC/Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Universiteit van Amsterdam This short note takes another look at the ideas proposed by the ‘New Wittgen steinians’, foCusing on a feature of the disCussion these ideas have generated that hitherto seems to have received comparatively little atten- tion, viz., Certain assumptions about the ConCeption of philosophy as an intelleCtual enterprise, inCluding its relation to the sCienCes, that seem to be adopted by both the New Wittgensteinians and (many of) their critics. Introduction The debate about the ‘New Wittgenstein’ is primarily one about the proper exegesis of Wittgenstein’s work, both early and late. A key ele- ment in the discussion is the nature of philosophical method. Directly, since the aim and nature of Wittgenstein’s method is one of the central topics that is being discussed. But also indirectly, since the debate re- fl ects an old, yet still relevant dispute about the nature of philosophy, a topic that itself is intimately related to question of method. It is this last aspect of the discussion that has received comparatively little at- tention so far and that I will focus on in what follows. First I will give a very brief sketch of some of the main claims that the ‘New Wittgenstein’ interpretation makes, and indicate how these differ from more standard readings of Wittgenstein’s early work.
    [Show full text]
  • PHI 110 Lecture 2 1 Welcome to Our Second Lecture on Personhood and Identity
    PHI 110 Lecture 2 1 Welcome to our second lecture on personhood and identity. We’re going to begin today what will be two lectures on Rene Descartes’ thoughts on this subject. The position that is attributed to him is known as mind/body dualism. Sometimes it’s simply called the dualism for short. We need to be careful, however, because the word dualism covers a number of different philosophical positions, not always dualisms of mind and body. In other words, there are other forms of dualism that historically have been expressed. And so I will refer to his position as mind/body dualism or as Cartesian dualism as it’s sometimes also called. I said last time that Descartes is not going to talk primarily about persons. He’s going to talk about minds as opposed to bodies. But I think that as we start getting into his view, you will see where his notion of personhood arises. Clearly, Descartes is going to identify the person, the self, with the mind as opposed to with the body. This is something that I hoped you picked up in your reading and certainly that you will pick up once you read the material again after the lecture. Since I’ve already introduced Descartes’ position, let’s define it and then I’ll say a few things about Descartes himself to give you a little bit of a sense of the man and of his times. The position mind/body that’s known as mind/body dualism is defined as follows: It’s the view that the body is a physical substance — a machine, if you will — while the mind is a non-physical thinking entity which inhabits the body and is responsible for its voluntary movements.
    [Show full text]
  • Ludwig.Wittgenstein.-.Philosophical.Investigations.Pdf
    PHILOSOPHICAL INVESTIGATIONS By LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN Translated by G. E. M. ANSCOMBE BASIL BLACKWELL TRANSLATOR'S NOTE Copyright © Basil Blackwell Ltd 1958 MY acknowledgments are due to the following, who either checked First published 1953 Second edition 1958 the translation or allowed me to consult them about German and Reprint of English text alone 1963 Austrian usage or read the translation through and helped me to Third edition of English and German text with index 1967 improve the English: Mr. R. Rhees, Professor G. H. von Wright, Reprint of English text with index 1968, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, Mr. P. Geach, Mr. G. Kreisel, Miss L. Labowsky, Mr. D. Paul, Miss I. 1981, 1986 Murdoch. Basil Blackwell Ltd 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF, UK All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be NOTE TO SECOND EDITION reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or THE text has been revised for the new edition. A large number of otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. small changes have been made in the English text. The following passages have been significantly altered: Except in the United States of America, this book is sold to the In Part I: §§ 108, 109, 116, 189, 193, 251, 284, 352, 360, 393,418, condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re- 426, 442, 456, 493, 520, 556, 582, 591, 644, 690, 692.
    [Show full text]
  • The Causal Efficacy of Consciousness
    entropy Article The Causal Efficacy of Consciousness Matthew Owen 1,2 1 Yakima Valley College, Yakima, WA 98902, USA; [email protected] 2 Center for Consciousness Science, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA Received: 10 June 2020; Accepted: 17 July 2020; Published: 28 July 2020 Abstract: Mental causation is vitally important to the integrated information theory (IIT), which says consciousness exists since it is causally efficacious. While it might not be directly apparent, metaphysical commitments have consequential entailments concerning the causal efficacy of consciousness. Commitments regarding the ontology of consciousness and the nature of causation determine which problem(s) a view of consciousness faces with respect to mental causation. Analysis of mental causation in contemporary philosophy of mind has brought several problems to the fore: the alleged lack of psychophysical laws, the causal exclusion problem, and the causal pairing problem. This article surveys the threat each problem poses to IIT based on the different metaphysical commitments IIT theorists might make. Distinctions are made between what I call reductive IIT, non-reductive IIT, and non-physicalist IIT, each of which make differing metaphysical commitments regarding the ontology of consciousness and nature of causation. Subsequently, each problem pertaining to mental causation is presented and its threat, or lack thereof, to each version of IIT is considered. While the lack of psychophysical laws appears unthreatening for all versions, reductive IIT and non-reductive IIT are seriously threatened by the exclusion problem, and it is difficult to see how they could overcome it while maintaining a commitment to the causal closure principle.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Solved by Sacrifice' : Austin Farrer, Fideism, and The
    ‘SOLVED BY SACRIFICE’ : AUSTIN FARRER, FIDEISM, AND THE EVIDENCE OF FAITH Robert Carroll MacSwain A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2010 Full metadata for this item is available in the St Andrews Digital Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/920 This item is protected by original copyright ‘SOLVED BY SACRIFICE’: Austin Farrer, Fideism, and the Evidence of Faith Robert Carroll MacSwain A thesis submitted to the School of Divinity of the University of St Andrews in candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The saints confute the logicians, but they do not confute them by logic but by sanctity. They do not prove the real connection between the religious symbols and the everyday realities by logical demonstration, but by life. Solvitur ambulando, said someone about Zeno’s paradox, which proves the impossibility of physical motion. It is solved by walking. Solvitur immolando, says the saint, about the paradox of the logicians. It is solved by sacrifice. —Austin Farrer v ABSTRACT 1. A perennial (if controversial) concern in both theology and philosophy of religion is whether religious belief is ‘reasonable’. Austin Farrer (1904-1968) is widely thought to affirm a positive answer to this concern. Chapter One surveys three interpretations of Farrer on ‘the believer’s reasons’ and thus sets the stage for our investigation into the development of his religious epistemology. 2. The disputed question of whether Farrer became ‘a sort of fideist’ is complicated by the many definitions of fideism.
    [Show full text]