Shared intentional engagement through language and phenomenal experience.
Christoph Durt
Frontiers in Psychology October 8, 2014 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01016 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Interaction Consciousness Engagement Intentionality Phenomenal experience Sensations |
| Key points | Argues that shared intentional engagement—relating together to the same meaningful entities—is fundamental to human interaction, and that both language and phenomenal experience exhibit shared structures that make such engagement possible, contrary to the widespread idea that perceptual experience is incommunicable. The author contends this result aligns with empirical research on "pop out" experiences and necessitates interdisciplinary investigation. |
Abstract
This article introduces the notion of shared intentional engagement and argues that the current debate around intersubjective interaction can profit from taking that notion into account. Shared intentional engagement holds between people when they relate together to the same meaningful entities. For instance, when people talk about something, they share intentional engagement as long as they don't talk past each other. But what if the entity talked about involves perceptual experience-is the quality of one's experiences not something that cannot be conveyed to others through language? Against this widespread idea, this article takes up philosophical arguments for the intersubjectivity of, on the one hand, language, and, on the other hand, phenomenal experience. It contents that language and phenomenal experience both exhibit shared structures that enable shared intentional engagement. It then considers an example for how this result matches well with empirical research on "pop out" experiences. Because shared intentional engagement is fundamental for all kinds of human interaction, it necessitates interdisciplinary investigations that are frequently hindered by the assumption that the phenomenal experiences of humans are hidden to others.
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