Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T07:47:59.419Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Logical Space and the Space of Sight: The Relevance of Wittgenstein's Arguments to Recent Issues in the Philosophy of Mind

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2009

Ludovic Soutif
Ludovic Soutif
Affiliation:
University of Paris I
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article, I show and discuss the relevance of Wittgenstein's arguments as to the spatial structure of sight to recent issues in the philosophy of mind. The first, bearing upon the dimensionality of the manifolds at play in depiction, plays a critical role in Clark's attempt to provide an independent account of qualia and of their differentiative properties. The second, pertaining to the properly spatial structure formed by the data of sight, is explicitly appealed to in the debate on the realistic character of any genuinely spatial scheme. I argue that if Wittgenstein rightly assumes that the simultaneous presence of sensible places in vision is a key condition for objectivity, he fails nevertheless to warrant the allegedly realistic character of the scheme employed in his own search for a phenomenological description of the visual field.

Type
Articles
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 47 , Issue 3-4 , Summer-Fall 2008 , pp. 501 - 536
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Campbell, J. 2002 Reference and Consciousness. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casati, R. 1995 “Notes on Phenomenology and Visual Space.” In Wittgenstein: Mind and Language. Edited by Egidi, R.. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp. 185–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casullo, A. 1986 “The Spatial Structure of Perceptual Space.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 46, 4: 665–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casullo, A. 1989 “Perceptual Space Is Monadic.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 50, 1: 131–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, A. 1993 Sensory Qualities. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Diamond, C. 1991 “Realism and the Realistic Spirit.” In The Realistic Spirit: Wittgenstein, Philosophy, and the Mind. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, pp. 39–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dokic, J. 2003 “L'espace de la perception et de l'imagination.” In Philosophies de la perception: phénoménologie, grammaire et sciences cognitives. Edited by Bouveresse, J. and Rosat, J.-J.. Paris: Odile Jacob, pp. 77–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Egidi, R. 2001 “Wittgenstein's Phenomenological Representation of Experience.” In Wittgenstein and the Future of Philosophy: A Reassessment after 50 years—Proceedings of the 24th International Wittgenstein-Symposium, 08 12–18, 2001, Kirchberg am Wechsel (Austria)/Wittgenstein und die Zukunft der Philosophie: eine Neubewertung nach 50 Jahren: Akten des 24. International Wittgenstein-Symposiums, 12–18 August 2001, Kirchberg am Wechsel (Österreich). Edited by Haller, R. and Puhl, K.. Vienna/Wien: ÖBV & Hölder-Pichler-Tempsky Verlag, pp. 40–49.Google Scholar
Evans, G. 1985a “Things Without the Mind: A Commentary upon Chapter Two of Strawson's Individuals.” In Collected Papers. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 249–90. Originally published in Philosophical Subjects: Essays Presented to P. F. Strawson. Edited by Z. van Straaten. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980, pp. 76–116.Google Scholar
Evans, G. 1985b “Molyneux's Question.” In Collected Papers. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 364–99.Google Scholar
Goodman, N. 1951 The Structure of Appearance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Griffin, N. 1985 “Russell's Multiple Relation Theory of Judgment.” Philosophical Studies, 47: 213–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helmholtz, H. von 1977a “The Origin and Significance of the Axioms of Geometry.” In Epistemological Writings. The Paul Hertz/Moritz Schlick Centenary Edition of 1921. Edited by Cohen, R. S. and Elkana, Y.. Translated by Lowe, M. F.. Dordrecht: Reidel, pp. 1–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helmholtz, H. von 1977b “On the Facts Underlying Geometry.” In Epistemological Writings. The Paul Hertz/Moritz Schlick Centenary Edition of 1921. Edited by Cohen, R. S. and Elkana, Y.. Translated by Lowe, M. F.. Dordrecht: Reidel, pp. 39–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helmholtz, H. von 1977c “The Facts in Perception.” In Epistemological Writings. The Paul Hertz/Moritz Schlick Centenary Edition of 1921. Edited by Cohen, R. S. and Elkana, Y.. Translated by Lowe, M. F.. Dordrecht: Reidel, pp. 115–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hintikka, J. 1996 Selected Papers. Vol. 1, Ludwig Wittgenstein: Half-Truths and One-and-a-Half-Truths. Dordrecht: Kluwer.Google Scholar
Hintikka, J., and Hintikka, M. 1986 Investigating Wittgenstein. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Hyder, D. 2002 The Mechanics of Meaning: Propositional Content and the Logical Space of Wittgenstein's Tractatus. Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kienzler, W. 1997 Wittgensteins Wende zur seiner Spätphilosophie. Eine historische und systematische Darstellung. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Lampert, T. 2000 Wittgensteins Physikalismus. Die Sinnesdatenanalyse des Tractatus logico-philosophicus in ihrem historischen Kontext. Paderborn: Mentis.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mandik, P. 1998 “Objectivity Without Space.” The Electronic Journal of Analytic Philosophy: Special Issue on the Philosophy of Gareth Evans. http://www.phil.indiana.edu/ejap/1998/mandik98.html.Google Scholar
Murch, G. 1973 Visual and Auditory Perception. New York: Bobbs-Merrill.Google Scholar
Nicod, J. 1970 Geometry in the Sensible World. In Geometry and Induction. Translated by Bell, J. and Woods, M.. Berkekey, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Noë, A. 1994 “Wittgenstein, Phenomenology and What It Makes Sense to Say.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 54, 1: 1–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pears, D. F. 1988 The False Prison: A Study of the Development of Wittgenstein's Philosophy. Vol. 2. Oxford: Clarendon Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perrin, D. 2007 Le flux et l'instant: Wittgenstein aux prises avec le mythe du présent. Analyse et philosophie. Paris: Vrin.Google Scholar
Perry, J. 1993 The Problem of the Essential Indexical and Other Essays. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poincaré, H. 1952 Science and Hypothesis. Translated by , W. J. G. [sic]. With a Preface by J. Larmor. New York: Dover.Google Scholar
Quine, W. V. O. 1960 Word and Object. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Google Scholar
Riemann, B. 1876 “Über die Hypothesen, welche der Geometrie zu Grunde liegen.” In Gesammelte mathematische Werke. Edited by Weber, H. and Dedekind, R.. Leipzig: Teubner, pp. 272–87.Google Scholar
Russell, B. 1992a The Principles of Mathematics. Introduction by J. Slater. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Russell, B. 1992b “On the Nature of Truth and Falsehood.” In The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell. Vol. 6, Logical and Philosophical Papers, 1909–1913. Edited by Slater, J. and Frohmann, B.. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Russell, B. 1993 Theory of Knowledge: The 1913 Manuscript. In The Collected Papers of Bertrand Russell. Vol. 7, Theory of Knowledge: The 1913 Manuscript. Edited by Eames, E. Ramsden and Blackwell, K.. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Schlick, M. 1920 Space and Time in Contemporary Physics: An Introduction to the Theory of Relativity and Gravitation. Translated by Brose, H. L.. With an introduction by F. A. Lindemann. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Stern, D. 1995 Wittgenstein on Mind and Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strawson, P. F. 1959 Individuals: An Essay in Descriptive Metaphysics. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Strawson, P. F. 1980 “Reply to Evans.” In Philosophical Subjects: Essays Presented to P. F. Strawson. Edited by van Straaten, Zak. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 273–82.Google Scholar
Swanson, J. W. 1967 “On a Problem of Nicod and Strawson.” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 28, 2: 222–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whitehead, A. N. 1920 The Concept of Nature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1922 Tractatus logico-philosophicus. International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method. German text with an English translation en regard by Ogden, C. K. and Ramsey, F. P., with an Introduction by R. Russell. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1961 Tractatus logico-philosophicus. Translated by Pears, D. F. and McGuinness, B. F.. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1974 Letters to Russell, Keynes, and Moore. Edited by von Wright, G. H.. Assisted by B. F. McGuinness. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1975 Philosophical Remarks. Edited by Rhees, R.. Translated by Hargreaves, R. and White, R.. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1979a Notebooks, 1914–1916. 2nd ed. Edited by Anscombe, G. E. M. and von Wright, G. H.. Translated by Anscombe, G. E. M.. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1979b Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle: Conversations Recorded by F. Waismann. Edited by McGuinness, B. F.. Translated by Schulte, J. and McGuinness, B. F.. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1993 Philosophical Occasions, 1912–1951. Edited by Klagge, J. and Nordmann, A.. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 1994–1996 Wiener Ausgabe/Vienna Edition. Bd. 1–5/Vol. 1–5. Vienna and New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 2000 Wittgenstein's Nachlass: The Bergen Electronic Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 2003 The Voices of Wittgenstein: The Vienna Circle: Ludwig Wittgenstein and Friedrich Waismann. Transcribed, edited, and with an introduction by Baker, G.. Translated by Baker, G. et al. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 2004 Logisch-Philosophische Abhandlung: Entstehungsgeschichte und Herausgabe der Typoskripte und Korrekturexemplare. Edited by Grasshoff, G. and Lampert, T.. Vienna and New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Wittgenstein, L. 2005 The Big Typescript: TS 213. German-English Scholars' Edition. Edited and translated by Luckhardt, C. G. and Aue, M. A. E., Oxford: Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar