phenomenalism (redirected from phenomenalist)

phenomenalism

View that statements about material objects are reducible to statements about actual and possible sensations, or sense-data. According to phenomenalists, a material object is not a mysterious something “behind” the appearances presented in sensation. If it were, the material world would be unknowable; indeed, the term matter is unintelligible unless it somehow can be defined by reference to sensations. In speaking about a material object, then, reference must be made to a very large system of possible sense-data, only some of which (if any) are ever actualized. Thus the statement “There is a fire in the next room” would be analyzed as a series of hypothetical statements such as “If one were to enter the next room with one's eyes open, one would see a bright light of a yellowish orange colour.” Some philosophers have objected that it is difficult to remove all references to material objects from the hypothetical statements to which material-object talk is supposedly reducible. See also George Berkeley.

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phenomenalism

Philosophy the doctrine that statements about physical objects and the external world can be analysed in terms of possible or actual experiences, and that entities, such as physical objects, are only mental constructions out of phenomenal appearances