Overcoming the Impassable Gulf: Phenomenologizing Psychophysics
Patrick M. Whitehead, Tayha G. Smith
Journal of Phenomenological Psychology April 6, 2018 DOI: 10.1163/15691624-12341337 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that a phenomenological approach is most appropriate for a contemporary psychophysics, one that integrates physics, neurophysiology, and perception, resulting in a "psychiatric neurophenomenology" that meets the demands of Fechner's original proposal. Examples of the placebo effect and traumatic brain injury treatment are used to demonstrate its usefulness. |
Abstract
Abstract This paper examines Fechner’s (1859) introduction to experimental psychophysics from a phenomenological perspective. Horst’s (2005) analysis is used to demonstrate the phenomenology that is inherent to classical perceptual psychophysics (Fechner’s “outer” psychophysics). Horst argues that the psychophysical event of perception can only be understood as an intentional intertwining of subject and object. From this we move to physiological component of psychophysics—that is, the processes that mediate perceptual awareness (Fechner’s “inner” psychophysics). Drawing primarily on the work of Rosen (2008, 2015), it is argued the phenomenology provides the most appropriate approach for what could be understood as a contemporary psychophysics—one that borrows from recent trends in physics, neuro-physiology, and perception as classical psychophysics had done (or promised to do). This results in a psychiatric neurophenomenology. Examples of the placebo effect and treatment of traumatic brain injury are used to demonstrate the usefulness of a phenomenological psychophysics, one that ultimately meets the demands of Fechner’s original proposal.