Friday, November 24, 2017

Perspective, Epiphenomenon, Prospective

Leibniz characterizes the perceptual field of a Monad variously as Perspective, Reflection, and Representation.  But, Whitehead's detailed analysis reveals crucial distinctions between them.  For sure, to begin with, none of them is a Phenomenalist In-Me World, i. e. entirely Second Quality.  However, while Perspective is For-Me, Reflection suggests not, say, the surface of an object facing one, but a variety of Epiphenomenon, i. e. an insubstantial representation of such a surface.  But what Whitehead bears out is that the representation, like that of the Gestaltists, is a projection, more accurately characterized as From-Me.  In other words, the perceived surface, is a product of a cognitive synthesis that includes the causal effects, slightly previous, of the surface on sense-organs, as well as what is subjectively added, e. g. structuring.  However, like Leibniz, Whitehead does not seem to recognize the organic function of this projection--to present a field of potential Action, rather than a mere object of Contemplation or Geometrical analysis, i. e. that it is a Prospective.  So, Whitehead, perhaps unwittingly, reinforces Leibniz' Theological thesis that the only source of Agency is a deity, with the implication that bettering the World via Political Philosophy is an expression of no more than human vanity.

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