The eloquence and perspicacity of Professor Thompson has convinced me to become
an *Experience* monist. In my naive sophomoric enthusiasm I have set about
writing THE definitive work on *Experience*. But I have a few questions ...
1) Is an *Experience* a whole or a composite? I.e., (scent of cinnamon)—(heat
of oven)—(grandmother's smile) OR (scent of cinnamon) + (heat of oven) +
(grandmothers smile)? Another analogy a single photograph or a Photoshopped
collage?
1A) If an *Experience* is is a composite- there must be 'atomic'
*Experience* from which it is composed. Is it possible to *Experience* and
"atomic *Experience*" in isolation?
2) Does an *Experience* have duration, or is each *Experience* akin to a frame
of a film and continuity simply an artifact of being presented at some rate;
e.g., 30 frames per nanosecond?
3) Can *Experiences* be differentiated as "potential" and "actual?" To
illustrate: I turn on the camera on my phone and images pass through the lens
and appear on the screen, but a photograph does not come into existence until I
press the shutter button. Does something similar happen with experience? They
are potential until I "press the conscious awareness button" at which point
they become actual?
4) Can *Experiences* be categorized? To borrow vocabulary (somewhat tortured(
from Peter Sjostedt-Hughes' pentad of perception;
* *Experience* grounded in/originating from the spatio-temporal environment
(Sensed Experience)
* *Experience* of an atemporal quality, e.g., color or scent (Perceived
Experience)
* An *Experience* partly caused by an external physicality—e.g., motion of
molecules partly causative of the *Experience* of heat (Ecto-Physical
Experience)
* An *Experience* that is partly caused by an internal physicality—e.g.,
synapses firing in the brain (Endo-Physical Experience)
* *Experiences* not grounded in/originating from the spatio-temporal
environment, e.g., imaginations (Demeteption Experience)
* A sixth, of my own, a variation of Endo-Physical, where the internal
physicality is "disrupted," e.g., by taking a drug.
5) Does *Experience* 'exist' apart from an experiencer?
5A) if not, how can we have "common experiences"
5B) if yes, do we not have a faux monism, with two metaphysical things:
experience and experiencer?
6) Do *Experiences* persist? Perhaps as memories?
6A) If yes, what exactly is the difference between an
*Experience*-in-"memory" and one "being experienced?" Analogy to a computer
program executing and the same program stored on disk.
I would have asked Professor Thompson these questions, but I fear he would have
dismissed them as "tending not to edification."
davew
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