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  • 8/11/2019 On Observing and Perceiving

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    9 2 P H I L O S O P H I C A L S T U D I E S

    A Note on Ontology,Philosophlcal Studies,1:89-92 (1950) .R. Carnap,LogicaI Syn taxof Language (London: Ke gan Paul, Trench, T m ebn er &

    Co., 1937).9 Fo r P M this neglects only parentheses. In Sem antics I added two primitive signs

    for mention and designation. I am prepared to argu e that (I ) i t m akes sense to c allthe m structural rather than descriptive and (2 ) the v ery limited nonextensionality theyentail does not affect the argument in this paper.

    ao Com m ents o n Professor Hem pet 's 'Th e concept of cognitive significance', to b epublished am ong th e papers presented at th e meeting of April 29, I950 , o f the Institutefor the Unity of Science.

    O n Nonperceptual Intuition,Philosophyand PhenomenologiealResearch, 10:263-64 (1949) .

    n bser v ing an d Per ceiv ing

    b y H A N S R E I C H E N B A C H

    U N I V E R S I T Y O F C L I F O R N I T L O S N G E L E S

    I N T HE A p r i l is s ue o f t h i s jo u r n a l, R o d e r i c k M . C h i s h o l m p u b l i s h e d a n o t ec o n c e r n i n g m y t r e a t m e n t o f p e r c e p t i o n s e n t e n c e s ? I t h i n k h i s c r it ic i sm isc o r r e c t as fa r a s t h e f o r m u l a t i o n i n m y b o o k is c o n c e r n e d , 2 a n d I t h a n kM r. C h i s h o l m f o r h a v i n g d r a w n m y a t t e n t i o n t o th i s e rr or . B u t I d o n o tt h i n k t h a t t h e r e i s a n y d i f f ic u l ty o f a p r in c i p a l n a t u r e i n v o l v e d , s i n c e m yf o r m u l a t i o n c a n b e e as il y c o r r e c t e d . I n t h e n o t a t i o n u s e d b y th e e d i t o r s o ft h i s j o u r n a l , t h e c o r r e c t i o n is g i v e n a s fo l l o w s .

    I n s t e a d o f s a y in g t h a t t h e b o d i l y s t a t e o f A i s i m p l i e d b y d o g o b s e r v a t i o n ,I w i l l r a t h e r s a y t h a t t h i s s t a t e h a s a l l t h e f o l l o w i n g p r o p e r t i e s : ( 1 ) t h e ym u s t b e c o n n e c t i v e l y i m p l i e d b y d o g o b s e r v a t i o n , i .e ., b e l o n g t o a c e r ta i nc l as s 8 ; ( 2 ) t h e y m u s t b e n e u r a l p r o p e r t i e s , i .e ., b e l o n g t o a c l as s v. T h el a t t e r q u a l i f i c a ti o n is n e c e s s a r y b e c a u s e s u c h e x t e r n a l p r o p e r t i e s a s h a v i n gt h e e y e s o p e n , w h i c h a r e i m p l i e d f o r d o g o b s e r v a t i o n , a r e n o t r e q u i r e d f o rm e r e p e r c e p t i o n , a s i n a d r e a m . T h e p r e c is e d e fi n i ti o n o f t h e s e n e u r a l p r o p -e r t i e s i s he re i r r e l evan t ; a d e f in i t i o n in phy s io log ica l t e rm s i s, o f cou r se , a tt h e p r e s e n t t i m e , t e c h n i c a l l y i m p o s s i b l e .

    T h e c la s s 8 i s d e f i n e d f o r t h e p e r s o n A a s fo l l o w s :8 ( f ,A ) - - Dr ( u ) [ ( 3 y ) o b s ( A , y ) d ( y ) b s t ( A , u ) --~ f ( u ) ]

    H e r e d = d o g , o b s ----- o b s e r v e s , b s t - - b o d i l y s t a t e . T h e a r r o w e x p r e s s e s ac o n n e c t i v e i m p l i c a t i o n .

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    O N O B S E RV I N G A N D P E R C E I V I N G 93

    N o w I r e pl ac e f o rm u l a ( 3 ) , p a g e 2 75 o f m y b o o k , b y t h e f o ll o w i n g o n e :

    ( 3 z ) { b s t ( A , z ) ( f ) I v ( f ) 3 ( f , A ) --~ f ( z ) ] }

    I n t h e l a t t e r f o r m u l a , t h e a r r o w m i g h t e v e n b e r e p l a c e d b y a h o r s e s h o e ,i . e . , a n a d j u n c t i v e i m p l i c a t i o n . T h i s f o r m u l a d o e s a l l t h a t c a n b e r e q u i r e df o r a d e f i n i e n s o f m y f o r m u l a ( 2 ) , p a g e 2 7 4. I t m e e t s C h i s h o l m ' s a rg u -m e n t s ; f o r i n s t a n c e , b e i n g a l i v e i s o n l y o n e o f t h e p r o p e r t i e s i n c l u d e d i na n d is n o t s u f fi c ie n t t o d e f i n e p e r c e p t i o n o f a d o g .

    S i n c e m y c o n n e c t i v e i m p l i c a t i o n i s o r i g i n a l l y a m e t a l i n g u i s t i c r e l a t i o n ,t h e t r a n s c r i p t i o n o f t h e f i r s t f o r m u l a i n t o t h e m e t a l a n g u a g e m u s t b e c a r e -f u l l y d o n e ; t h e a l l - o p e r a t o r r e f e r r i n g t o a c o n n e c t i v e i m p l i c a t i o n m u s t b e

    t rans la ted in to a meta l ingu i s t i c a l l - s t a tement . Bu t th i s i s he re aga in i r-re levan t .

    T h i s c o r r e c t e d v e r s i o n s h o w s t h a t t h e e m p i r i c i s t t h e s i s c a n b e c a r r i e dt h r o u g h .

    NOTES1V ol. II, no. 3, p. 45.

    Elements of Symbolic Logic (N ew York: Macm illan, 1947), 49.