Conscious attention and demonstrative thought
This thesis is concerned with the relation between attention and demonstrative thought. It focuses on John Campbellâs view of this relation which he defends in his book Reference and Consciousness and some other work. Campbellâs view is that conscious perceptual attention to an object explains how we are able to think perceptual demonstrative thoughts about that object. I will label this view âCampbellâs Thesisâ. The main aim of this thesis is to assess Campbellâs Thesis by identifying the issues upon which the question of whether we should accept or reject it turns, and by revealing some of the commitments that must be taken on by those who wish to reject it. The first main claim of this thesis is that Campbellâs own arguments for his thesis are not entirely successful (largely because of his reliance on his notion of âknowledge of referenceâ). The second main claim is whether we should accept or reject Campbellâs Thesis really turns upon: (i) whether conscious perceptual attention is a unified psychological phenomena (Iâll argue there is a strong argument for Campbellâs thesis if this is so); (ii) whether it is acceptable to deny conscious perceptual experience of objects has an explanatory
Williams, T. E.
Conscious attention and demonstrative thought. This thesis is concerned with the relation between attention and demonstrative thought. It focuses on John Campbellâs view of this relation which he defends in his book Reference and Consciousness and some other work. Campbellâs view is that conscious perceptual attention to an object explains how we are able to think perceptual demonstrative thoughts about that object. I will label this view âCampbellâs Thesisâ. The main aim of this thesis is to assess Campbellâs Thesis by identifying the issues upon which the question of whether we should accept or reject it turns, and by revealing some of the commitments that must be taken on by those who wish to reject it. The first main claim of this thesis is that Campbellâs own arguments for his thesis are not entirely successful (largely because of his reliance on his notion of âknowledge of referenceâ). The second main claim is whether we should accept or reject Campbellâs Thesis really turns upon: (i) whether conscious perceptual attention is a unified psychological phenomena (Iâll argue there is a strong argument for Campbellâs thesis if this is so); (ii) whether it is acceptable to deny conscious perceptual experience of objects has an explanatory
conscious attention demonstrative thought concerned relation attention demonstrative thought focus john campbell view relation defend book reference consciousness work campbell view conscious perceptual attention object explain able think perceptual demonstrative thought object label view campbell main_aim ass campbell identify issue upon question_whether accept_reject turn reveal commitment must_take wish reject first main_claim campbell arguments entirely successful largely reliance notion knowledge reference second main_claim whether accept_reject campbell really turn upon whether conscious perceptual attention unify psychological phenomenon argue_strong argument campbell whether acceptable deny conscious perceptual_experience object explanatory