Phenomenal Holism and Cognitive Phenomenology.
Martina Fürst
Erkenntnis December 9, 2021 DOI: 10.1007/s10670-021-00501-x (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that weak phenomenal holism about sensory phenomenology undermines conservatism about cognitive phenomenology, reducing phenomenal character to a concomitant phenomenon with no explanatory role in constituting conscious thought. Proposes that liberalism, and specifically a new version of liberalism, better explains how phenomenology constitutes conscious thoughts while fitting with weak phenomenal holism. |
Abstract
The cognitive phenomenology debate centers on two questions. (1) What is an apt characterization of the phenomenology of conscious thought? And (2), what role does this phenomenology play? I argue that the answers to the former question bear significantly on the answers to the latter question. In particular, I show that conservatism about cognitive phenomenology is not compatible with the view that phenomenology explains the constitution of conscious thought. I proceed as follows: To begin with, I analyze the phenomenology of our sensory experiences and argue for a weak phenomenal holism (WPH) about sensory phenomenology. Next, I explore how WPH can be integrated into the competing accounts of cognitive phenomenology. I argue that, given WPH, conservatism turns out to reduce phenomenal character to a merely concomitant phenomenon that has no explanatory power when it comes to the constitution of conscious thoughts. In contrast, liberalism is explanatorily more powerful in this respect. Finally, I propose a new version of liberalism that explains how phenomenology constitutes conscious thoughts and fits best with WPH.
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