[From Wayne Hershberger 920516]
(Mary Powers 920516)
Do we experience the energy or the information, or neither
(Wayne asks)?
We experience our perceptions. E and I are high-level, Western,
modern constructs. So are time and space. And phenomena. And the
relationships between them all.
E and I ARE high level constructs, and so is P! As in, "the
control of perception."
I believe we would do well to recognize the subtle but
terribly important differences between the epistemological
implications of control theory and the views of Bishop George
Berkeley who claimed that, "to be, is to be perceived" (i.e.,
"all is perception"). Berkeley was arguing that, of Locke's two
substances (mind and matter), only the former exists (i.e., there
are no objects, only percepts). That is, Berkeley was claiming
that there is no warrant for the existence of Locke's material
substance. And Berkeley appears to have been right. But David
Hume, extending Berkeley's argument, showed that neither is there
any warrant for mental substance, either. It was Kant who later
explained that the mind-matter issue is phony epistemology in the
first place. Kant noted that we hopelessly PREJUDICE our
epistemological deliberations whenever we label APPEARANCES as
perceptions (in the mind or brain) and REALITY as material
objects or God (or Boss Reality), as had John Locke and Bishop
Berkeley. Rather, since we are not supposed to put our
conclusions where our premises belong, we must name the two
realms (appearances and reality) with neutral terms: phenomena
and noumena (i.e., phenomenal appearances and noumenal reality).
NOW, what is the nature of these phenomena, these appearances
that comprise experience? To what extent are they mental,
physical, subjective objective, etc., etc.?
Incidentally, Kant observed that time and space are a priori
intuitions that are propaedeutic to recognizing such simple
constructs as before/after, or over/under, neither esoteric nor
high tech--more, Sesame-Street level.
Warm regards, Wayne
Wayne A. Hershberger Work: (815) 753-7097
Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology Home: (815) 758-3747
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb IL 60115 Bitnet: tj0wah1@niu