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Single Idea 7553

[filed under theme 12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 4. Sense Data / b. Nature of sense-data ]

Full Idea

Sense-data are purely physical, and all that is mental in connection with them is our awareness of them.

Gist of Idea

Sense-data are purely physical

Source

Bertrand Russell (The Ultimate Constituents of Matter [1915], p.138)

Book Ref

Russell,Bertrand: 'Mysticism and Logic' [Unwin 1989], p.138


A Reaction

Once this account of sense-data becomes fully clear, it also becomes apparent what a dualist theory it is. The mind is a cinema, I am the audience, and sense-data are the screen. There has to be a big logical gap between viewer and screen.


The 9 ideas from 'The Ultimate Constituents of Matter'

Visible things are physical and external, but only exist when viewed [Russell]
A man is a succession of momentary men, bound by continuity and causation [Russell]
Matter requires a division into time-corpuscles as well as space-corpuscles [Russell]
Classes, grouped by a convenient property, are logical constructions [Russell]
If my body literally lost its mind, the object seen when I see a flash would still exist [Russell]
We could probably, in principle, infer minds from brains, and brains from minds [Russell]
Matter is a logical construction [Russell]
Six dimensions are needed for a particular, three within its own space, and three to locate that space [Russell]
Sense-data are purely physical [Russell]