How does consciousness exist?: a comparative inquiry on classical empiricism and William James

Download
2006
Yılmaz, Zeliha Burcu
William James denies consciousness as an entity and this rejection lies in the background of my thesis. I searched the main reasons for this rejection in his philosophy. Throughout this search, I perceived two modes of existence of consciousness, that is active and passive. As James improves his thoughts on consciousness over the main arguments of classical empiricists, I explained his radical empiricism and pragmatism in relation to them. It is difficult to answer whether we are completely active or passive in the ways of our thinking and behaving. However, although it includes some problems and inconsistencies, James’s philosophy presents a more plausible explanation of our thinking than rationalism and empiricism, since it can appreciate the changes of our life in an unfinished world of pure experience. Therefore, my inquiry into the existence of consciousness in James depends on this plausibility of the main characteristics of radical empiricism in connection with the classical empiricists.

Suggestions

Critique of epistemic externalism and defense of foundationalist internalism
Altuğ, Ali Haydar; Ceylan, Yasin; Department of Philosophy (2015)
This thesis argues that epistemic externalism is untenable and defends that, although facing some severe problems, internalism is the only possible remaining option for a theory of knowledge and justification. It defends a foundationalist version of internalism, in which one’s beliefs about her own state of mind are taken to be certain. In this way, together with propositions of logic and mathematics, foundationalist requirement of certain and basic beliefs is rendered. Further, based on Laurence Bonjour’s ...
The formation of the self as mental unity and moral agency in hume’s philosophy
Neslioğlu, E. Funda; Grünberg, David; Department of Philosophy (2008)
This dissertation proposes to analyze the stages in the formation of the idea of self in Hume’s philosophy. According to Hume we have no a simple and individual impression that we can call the self where the self is the totality of conscious life of a person. Nevertheless, we do have an idea of personal identity that must be accounted for. He begins his explanation of this idea by noting that our perceptions are fleeting, and he concludes from this that all we are is a bundle of different perceptions. But ...
An inquiry into the disputable position of imagination in Kant’s philosophy
Atala, Müge; Çırakman, Elif; Department of Philosophy (2012)
My thesis aims to delve into Immanuel Kant’s formulation of the faculty of imagination in his Critique of Pure Reason and Critique of the Power of Judgment. In relation to the First Critique, it specifically concerns the relation of the “mysterious” function of imagination to the object and its representation as one of the fundamental steps of the emergence or production of theoretical knowledge. As regards the Third Critique, it scrutinizes the relation of imagination to reflective, as opposed to determina...
The quiddity of knowledge in Kant's critical philosophy
Serin, İsmail; Ceylan, Yasin; Department of Philosophy (2004)
In this thesis the quiddity of knowledge in Kant's critical philosophy has been investigated within the historical context of the problem. In order to illustrate the origins of the subject-matter of the dissertation, the historical background of Kant's views on the theory of knowledge has been researched too. As a result of this research, it is concluded that Kant did not invent a new philosophical problem, but he tried to improve a decisive solution for one of the oldest question of history of philosophy i...
On the significance of idealizations in sciene
Eyim, Ahmet; Sayan, Erdinç; Department of Philosophy (2005)
The aim of this thesis is to investigate the problems that use of idealizations in science leads to. Idealizations are simplifications and therefore false descriptions of how actual objects behave. Presence of idealizations in scientific theories is the reason for the problems in our understanding of confirmation of theories and also of scientific explanations. Nevertheless, idealizations are ubiquitous especially in natural sciences. Scientists have to employ idealizations because of the complexity of the ...
Citation Formats
Z. B. Yılmaz, “How does consciousness exist?: a comparative inquiry on classical empiricism and William James,” M.S. - Master of Science, Middle East Technical University, 2006.