The Status of Sense Data

1975 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
D.J. O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
Ambiguous Word ◽  
Sense Data ◽  
General Theme ◽  
The Status ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World

In the present state of philosophy in the English-speaking world, to choose to talk about sense data may seem perverse. What could be more boring for one's audience than to attempt variations on so threadbare a theme? And worse, what could be more unfashionable in the aftermath of Wittgenstein and Austin? My reasons for selecting this unpromising topic are twofold. First, the general theme of this series of lectures is empiricism. And whatever meanings we put upon that ambiguous word, it is clear that as a matter of history the problems of perception have been important problems for nearly all those philosophers who would consider themselves to be empiricists. And however unsatisfactory sense datum theories of perception may now be held to be, such theories have been central to the empiricist tradition. Secondly, it is important not to be too much impressed by the fact that a particular philosophical opinion is fashionable or unfashionable. The former certainly does not guarantee its truth nor the latter its falsity. It has often been remarked that philosophical opinions are very rarely refuted. Instead they fall out of vogue only to return some years later in another guise. It is perhaps time to take another look at the notion of sense data. The most ingenious and persistent attacks on analyses of perception in terms of sense data have been at best indecisive, as Professor Ayer showed in his reply to Austin's Sense and Sensibilia.

The Status of Sense Data

1975 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 79-92
Author(s):  
D.J. O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
Ambiguous Word ◽  
Sense Data ◽  
General Theme ◽  
The Status ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World

In the present state of philosophy in the English-speaking world, to choose to talk about sense data may seem perverse. What could be more boring for one's audience than to attempt variations on so threadbare a theme? And worse, what could be more unfashionable in the aftermath of Wittgenstein and Austin? My reasons for selecting this unpromising topic are twofold. First, the general theme of this series of lectures is empiricism. And whatever meanings we put upon that ambiguous word, it is clear that as a matter of history the problems of perception have been important problems for nearly all those philosophers who would consider themselves to be empiricists. And however unsatisfactory sense datum theories of perception may now be held to be, such theories have been central to the empiricist tradition. Secondly, it is important not to be too much impressed by the fact that a particular philosophical opinion is fashionable or unfashionable. The former certainly does not guarantee its truth nor the latter its falsity. It has often been remarked that philosophical opinions are very rarely refuted. Instead they fall out of vogue only to return some years later in another guise. It is perhaps time to take another look at the notion of sense data. The most ingenious and persistent attacks on analyses of perception in terms of sense data have been at best indecisive, as Professor Ayer showed in his reply to Austin's Sense and Sensibilia.

Perceptions of Palestine: The View from Large Linguistic Datasets

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-54
Author(s):  
Terry Regier
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Cultural Perceptions ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Cultural Shift ◽  
General Theme ◽  
English Usage ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World

Cultural norms and trends are often reflected in patterns of language use. This article explores cultural perceptions of Palestine and Palestinians in the English-speaking world, through two analyses of large linguistic datasets. The first analysis seeks to uncover current conceptions of participants in the Israel-Palestine conflict, by identifying words that are distinctively associated with those participants in modern English usage. The second analysis asks what historical-cultural changes led to these current conceptions. A general theme that emerges from these analyses is that a cultural shift appears to have occurred recently in the English-speaking world, marked by greater awareness of Palestinian perspectives on the conflict. Possible causes for such a cultural shift are also explored.

Rowan Williams’ Ecumenical Theology: a Response to Dame Mary Tanner

Ecclesiology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-199
Author(s):  
Oliver P. Rafferty SJ
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Ecumenical Dialogue ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Status ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
On The Road ◽  
English Speaking World ◽  
Ecumenical Theology

Rowan Williams is among the best and most perceptive contemporary theologians in the English speaking world. Given his position as Archbishop of Canterbury, he is of necessity caught-up in the quest for Christian unity. His ecumenical theology can be discerned, however, not only in his directly ecumenical writings and speeches as Archbishop but also in his general theological approach. He emphasises Eucharist and baptism and whilst these may seem commonplace in ecumenical dialogue, nevertheless his analysis of the implications of baptism for believers offers something genuinely new in ecumenical thinking about the status of the baptised. Despite the difficulties in the present state of relations between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church, Dr Williams’ theology does offer a hermeneutical tool that, if followed consistently by both churches, might enable the question of reunion to be placed in a different context, although of itself it cannot resolve the new problems that have been placed as obstacles on the road to corporate reunion.

The Resonance of “Culture”: Framing a Problem in Global Concept-History

2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 676-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Sartori
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Direct Transfer ◽  
European Languages ◽  
The Status ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries ◽  
English Speaking World ◽  
Asian Languages

In the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, “culture” achieved the status of a truly global concept. We find discourses of “culture” emerging to prominence in the German-speaking world during the second half of the eighteenth century (with the closely associated linguistic arenas of the Netherlands and Scandinavia rapidly following suit); in the English-speaking world starting in the first half of the nineteenth century; in Eastern Europe, East Asia, and South Asia starting in the second half of the nineteenth century; and just about everywhere else in the course of the twentieth century. “Culture” began to circulate far beyond the European sites of its modern genesis, sometimes through the direct transfer of lexical items from Western European languages (e.g., Russian kulءtura; the use of kalcar in various South Asian languages); and more often through the construction of new translative equivalencies with preexisting words or concepts most often signifying purification, refinement, or improvement (e.g., Japanese bun-ka; Chinese wen-hua; Bangla and Hindi sanskriti; Urdu tamaddun).

Adam Ferguson and the Idea of Civil Society

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Craig Smith
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
David Hume ◽  
Adam Smith ◽  
Scottish Enlightenment ◽  
Commercial Society ◽  
University Of Edinburgh ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World ◽  
The University

Adam Ferguson was a Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and a leading member of the Scottish Enlightenment. A friend of David Hume and Adam Smith, Ferguson was among the leading exponents of the Scottish Enlightenment’s attempts to develop a science of man and was among the first in the English speaking world to make use of the terms civilization, civil society, and political science. This book challenges many of the prevailing assumptions about Ferguson’s thinking. It explores how Ferguson sought to create a methodology for moral science that combined empirically based social theory with normative moralising with a view to supporting the virtuous education of the British elite. The Ferguson that emerges is far from the stereotyped image of a nostalgic republican sceptical about modernity, and instead is one much closer to the mainstream Scottish Enlightenment’s defence of eighteenth century British commercial society.

Dialogues

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-60
Author(s):  
Barbara E. Mundy
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
The Political ◽  
Section Deal ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World ◽  
Central Claim

This collection of essays reconsiders a seminal 1961 article by George Kubler, the most important art historian of Latin America of the English-speaking world at the time of its writing. Often greeted with indifference or hostility, Kubler’s central claim of extinction is still a highly contested one. The essays in this section deal with Kubler’s reception in Mexico, the political stakes of his claim in relation to indigeneity, as well as the utility of Kubler’s categories and objects of “extinction” beyond their original framing paradigm.

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