Consciousness from Aristotle to Putnam & Sartre PDF
Preview Consciousness from Aristotle to Putnam & Sartre
T H I N K I N G M A T T E R C o n s c i o u s n e s s f r o m A r i s t o t l e t o P u t n a m a n d S a r t r e Joseph S. Catalano R o u t l e d g e • N e w Yo r k a n d L o n d o n Published in 2000 by Routledge 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001 Published in Great Britain by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane London EC4P 4EE This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002. Copyright © 2000 by Routledge All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage retrieval system, with- out permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ISBN 0-203-90340-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN 0-203-90344-7 (Glassbook Format) I n M e m o r y o f S t e l l a r i o a n d E v e l y n M a r c h e s e C o n t e n t s Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Perspective 1 PART ONE THE BODY AND THE WORLD 1. Matter and Pure Enquiry 17 2. Moving Matter, Thinking Thoughts 39 3. Knowledge as Worldmaking 69 4. Matters and Modalities 95 PART TWO ON THINGS AND NAMES 5. Names and Things 115 6. The Transcendence of Mind 129 7. The Written Word 145 Conclusion: The Anthropocentric Universe 165 V APPENDICES Appendix I. The Snub and the Population Question 175 Appendix II. On Names 189 Notes 197 Selected Bibliography 217 Index 223 A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s William L.McBride graciously read and commented upon every version ofthis manuscript,and,in a very special way,I wish to acknowledge my gratitude.A few ofhis observations resulted in my moving some ofthe material into the two appendixes ofthis final version.The usual caveat is, I suppose,nevertheless,appropriate:I alone am responsible for both the format and the content ofthis book.Gayatri Patnaik ofRoutledge greatly eased the difficult task ofcreating a book out ofa manuscript.I wish to thank her for her gracious efficiency. VII I n t r o d u c t i o n T h e P e r s p e c t i v e Thinking about trees and stars,many philosophers today consider both the thought and the tree as material and yet as separate.That is,even though these philosophers are materialists,they are also realists:they do not iden- tify the consciousness ofa tree with the tree but give each its separate exis- tence. I begin by noting my general agreement with this realist and materialist perspective. At this point, someone who is not a materialist might want to stop reading.I may be able to keep the dialogue going by denying my material- ism,even as I affirm it.The ambiguity arises from the present-day notion of matter.If I claim allegiance with materialism,it might seem that I am accepting the general contemporary tendency to view matter and con- sciousness scientifically and quantitatively,and I do not do so.Also,I do not concentrate on the brain alone as the organ of thought.Rather,I take the view that the whole body thinks, and I take the body in its fleshy, organic nature. Further,in opposition to most materialist conceptions of the world,I consider that our body gives us a unique bond to the world:the world is 1
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