A PHILOSOPHICAL APPRAISAL OF THE CONCEPT PHENOMENALISM

Abstract

The main task of early modern philosophy is the epistemological project of showing how knowledge is possible. Empiricism, as a school of thought in epistemology or theory of knowledge, was destined to alter the course and concerns of modern philosophy. While Bacon was interested, in the “total reconstruction of sciences, arts, and all human knowledge, raised upon the proper foundations”, John Locke, the founder of empiricism in Britain, aimed at the more modest objective of clearing the ground and removing some of the “rubbish” that lies in the way of knowledge (Lawhead: 213). It was at this process of “clearing” that Locke “hit upon a bold and original interpretation of how the mind works and the extent of knowledge we can expect from the human mind” (Stumpf: 251). For Locke, our knowledge is limited to our experience that is “empiricism”. Empiricism is a doctrine in philosophy which holds that the most reliable source of human knowledge is experience, that is, through observation and sometimes experimentation. This is a view contrasted with rationalism, a theory which states that reason is itself a source of knowledge superior to and independent of sense perceptions. However, Refinements of empiricism led to phenomenalism, positivism, scientism, logical positivism etc. Phenomenalism is a view in epistemology derives from the metaphysical notion “that objects are logical construction out of perceptual properties.” (Dictionary .com) It can also be considered a radical form of empiricism. Employing the method of critical analysis, this paper therefore examines the meaning, basic tenets and history of phenomenalism, as well as the phenomenalist position, its variants, themes and some objections to the theory of phenomenalism.