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| 21686 | Sense-data are dubious abstractions, with none of the plausibility of tables |
| Full Idea: The notion of pure sense datum is a pretty tenuous abstraction, a good deal more conjectural than the notion of an external object, a table or a sheep. | |||
| From: Willard Quine (On Mental Entities [1952], p.225) | |||
| A reaction: This seems to sum up the view of sense-data held by the generation after Russell and Moore. Ayer still talks about them, but Russell had already given them up. The simple challenge is - what is the evidence for their existence? Cf innate ideas. |
| 21685 | Empiricism says evidence rests on the senses, but that insight is derived from science |
| Full Idea: The crucial insight of empiricism is that any evidence for science has its end points in the senses. This insight remains valid, but it is an insight which comes after physics, physiology, and psychology, not before. | |||
| From: Willard Quine (On Mental Entities [1952], p.225) | |||
| A reaction: Interesting. I think Hume and co. were probably outlining essential presuppositions and contraints which must be accepted by science. Quine offers empiricism as more like a description of science (with success as its authority?). |