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Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 10:16 pm
by raw_thought
As I previously explained (with a site about "cognitive phenomenology ") I used a triangle because my visualized triangle is a primary property. (Locke). Materialists believe in primary properties. However, my visualized triangle is a primary property that is also subjective. Subjectivity is something materialists do not believe in.
PS: I put the quote (above this post) separately from this my response to it because I am using a tablet and it is almost impossible to squeeze my response into a space with so much space taken up by the quote.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:38 pm
by Hobbes' Choice
raw-thought,
Did you read my post then decide not to respond?
Were you to use the more commonly quoted qualia, such as the experience of COLOUR, rather than an analytic device upon which we can all agree,
Qualia are experiential things, not analytical.
Then you ought to attack "materialism" for its limitations; NOT Materialists. Because materialist can accept the idea of qualia, in the same way that a cyclist can also drive a car.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:41 pm
by raw_thought
See the qualia thread. It is not about meathodology. See the Searle quotes!
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:41 pm
by raw_thought
Hobbes' Choice wrote:raw_thought wrote:If my experience of a visualized triangle is private, it is by definition a quale.
A quale is defined as an intrinsically private experience.
A materialist believes that there are no private experiences.
For him there is no subjective reality. For him only objective reality exists. Therefore, for him it is impossible to visualize a triangle because my visualized triangle is dramatically subjective, it is private.
You are misunderstanding what a materialist is.
Materialism provides a methodology by which we can understand the "objective" world, but all materialists know that this is a task that has to be performed carefully as they fully realise that senses can be deceiving, and opinion has to be overcome with evidence.
You are committing a deep conceptual error. There really is no such thing as a materialist in the way you want to caricature him. The best materialists are those that know that they have to overcome their subjective world in order to understand the physical world more perfectly. And it is the Empiricists, and Idealists working within a Materialist framework over the last 200 years or more that have utterly transformed our understanding of the world.
I sometimes walk on the pavement. When I do this I can be considered a pedestrian, and I have a set of rules, and rights as a pedestrian over the drivers of vehicle. I also own and use a car. When I am driving my BMW I am no longer a pedestrian but a road user and have a set of rules that guide and govern my behaviour.
Right at this moment I am a blogger. But that does not mean I am not a road user, nor a pedestrian.
There is no phrase which can exhaustively describe something; least of all a person. There is no "materialist" that is not also something else too.
The idea of the qualia is a useful one, but your example is a poor one. Triangles are analytic devices that can be conveyed and understood by others objectively. Colour is not. Colour is a better example.
Qualia do not disprove the worth of materialism. They highlight that human experience is not directly in accord with the objective material world, which, by implication, we can never know precisely though we are comprised of it.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:44 pm
by raw_thought
That post? I already answered all your questions. For example, a visualized triangle (google "cognitive phenomenology "). is a quale. Used it because it is a primary property (Locke).
Searle will answer your confusion as to what materialism is. He specifically addresses the issue of methodology.
Please read my posts before intuitively responding to them.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:50 pm
by raw_thought
Qualia is pure empirical data. Materialists rely on sophisticated speculation. Materialists are actually the ones that put empirical knowledge in the back seat.
Materialists concentrate on abstractions (concepts). Whereas a believer in qualia deals directly with reality as it is experienced.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:51 pm
by raw_thought
If a materialist accepts qualia then he is not a materialist. Similarly, an atheist that suddenly believes in God is no longer an atheist.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:56 pm
by raw_thought
A materialist does not work thru his subjective errors. He believes that the subjective does not exist. Only objective truth exists for him.
PS: I am using "materialist " in the philosophical sense not its common use. I am not referring to someone that wants to accumulate material goods.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 9:58 pm
by raw_thought
One experiences triangles. In that sense they are quales. And yes, there is something called geometry. However, that does not mean that one is not aware of triangles.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:02 pm
by Hobbes' Choice
raw_thought wrote:Qualia is pure empirical data. Materialists rely on sophisticated speculation. Materialists are actually the ones that put empirical knowledge in the back seat.
Materialists concentrate on abstractions (concepts). Whereas a believer in qualia deals directly with reality as it is experienced.
As I thought, you have not read my post.
I'm a materialist, and accept the idea of qualia.
A triangle is an analytic device. It can never be experienced, and is therefore not a quale.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:04 pm
by Hobbes' Choice
raw_thought wrote:One experiences triangles. In that sense they are quales. And yes, there is something called geometry. However, that does not mean that one is not aware of triangles.
no .
A triangle is a 2D idea. You cannot experience a 2D object.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:07 pm
by raw_thought
Feel free to disagree with the academic definition of qualia. I will use the established definition. A quale is a private experience.
Now you are being silly. Of course one can experience a 2D object. Draw a triangle on a piece of paper. You will be unawre of the 3 D depth.
Actually, I already answered that objection. Feel free to visualize a pyramid. It makes no difference to the substance of my argument.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:09 pm
by raw_thought
You are actually claiming that one cannot experience (be aware of) a triangle????
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:11 pm
by raw_thought
So you are a materialist that believes in qualia. You believe in something that is not objective reality. Sorry, you are not a materialist.
Re: What are concepts according to materialism?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:39 pm
by Hobbes' Choice
raw_thought wrote:So you are a materialist that believes in qualia. You believe in something that is not objective reality. Sorry, you are not a materialist.
`Rubbish.
I ride a bike; I also drive a car.
Think about it.
Then go off and find "Negative Dialectics", by Theodore Adorno, and chew it over a bit.
In any event. Materialist have to accept subjective and objective truths. If you had taken the time to read up on some of the world's greatest materialists you would know that.