FRANZ CLEMENS BRENTANO
Macroknow Library |
|
Psychology from
an Empirical Standpoint.
"The
word "psychology" means science of the soul."1a
ARISTOTLE
"
. . . [T]he objects of sensory
experience are deceptive. . . We have no right . . . to
believe that the objects of so-called external perception really
exist as they appear to us. Indeed, they demonstrably do not
exist outside of us. In contrast to that which really and
truly exists, they are mere phenomena."1b
AL-GHAZALI
DESCARTES
"The
phenomena revealed by inner perception are also subject
to laws. . . The laws of the coexistence and
succession of mental phenomena remain the object of
investigation even for those who deny psychology any knowledge of
the soul."1c
"Every
mental phenomenon is characterized by what the Scholastics of
the Middle Ages called the intentional (or mental) inexistence
of an object, and what we might call, though not wholly
unambiguously, reference to a content, direction toward an
object (which is not to be understood here as meaning a
thing), or immanent objectivity. . . In presentation
something is presented, in judgement something is affirmed
or denied, in love loved, in hate hated, in desire
desired and so on." 1d
BADIOU
"
. . . [P]sychology
is the science of mental phenomena." 1e
"
. . . [T]he totality of our
mental life . . . always forms a real unity. This is the
well-known fact of the unity of consciousness
which is generally regarded as one of the most important tenets of
psychology."1f
"
. . . [T]hree main classes of
mental phenomena must be distinguished . . . [w]e designate
the first by the term "presentation," the second by
the term "judgement," and the third by the terms
"emotion," "interest," or "love."
. . . We speak of a presentation whenever something
appears to us. . .
By "judgement" we mean . . . acceptance (as true)
or rejection (as false). . .
Strictly speaking, instead of the simple term "love" I should have
used the expression "love or hate" to characterize the
third class." 1g
BADIOU
|
|
*
Italics in the original.
1 Franz Brentano.
Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint.
Edited by Oscar Kraus. English Edition edited by Linda L.
McAlister. With a new Introduction by Peter Simons. Translated by
Antos C. Rancurello, D. B. Terrell and Linda L. McAlister. New
York, NY: Routledge, 1973,1995. Originally published in 1874 by
Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig, as Psychologie vom empirischen
Standpunkte.
Book One: Psychology as a Science
a I. The
Concept and Purpose of Psychology, at 3.
b Ibid., at
9-10.
c Ibid., at 12.
Book Two: Mental Phenomena in General
d I. The
Distinction Between Mental and Physical Phenomena, at 88.
e Ibid., at
100.
f IV. On
the Unity of Consciousness, at
163.
g VI.
Classification of Mental Activities Into Presentations, Judgements,
and Phenomena of Love and Hate, at
197-199.
MK-BOOKS-BRENTANO-20070622.
|
|
|