The Nature of Phenomenal Qualities

这个项目将探讨与经验的现象方面的确切本质有关的问题。在知觉和相关的经验中，主体意识到一系列现象性的品质：这些是颜色、声音等等，它们直接出现在意识经验中。目前，关于现象性特质的真实性和认知作用存在着广泛的争论。关于它们是主观的——属于某种内在的心理项目——还是客观的，在某种程度上依赖于被感知的周围物体的属性，目前还没有确定的观点。对于现象性质的最终本体论地位，以及它们与实体之间的关系，也没有达成一致意见，这些实体是我们目前对物理事物潜在结构的最佳科学解释所假定的。本研究将试图回答以下问题：(1)在什么意义上我们能说现象性品质存在？现象性质与认知过程的关系是什么？它们是构成意识的独特组成部分，还是在某些方面，它们是与概念状态平行的，作为表征世界事实的独特感知方式？(2)现象性是如何与心相关联的？现象性特质在哪里——它们是体验主体的主观状态吗？或者，至少在正常感知中出现的现象性，是否应该以某种方式被理解为依赖于被感知的外部物体的客观属性？(3)现象性质的终极本体论本质是什么？我们怎样才能使我们现有的关于人和物体真正的潜在物理本质的科学理论与意识经验的存在和知觉现象学相协调呢？我们是否应该像一些理论家建议的那样，对基础物理学进行彻底的修正或扩展？研究将被组织成四个相互关联的调查阶段：第一阶段将包括一系列研讨会，延续两个学期的课程，由哲学和认知科学的主要理论家就感知和幻觉中的现象特性的性质和作用的一般主题发表论文。同时，两名博士生和一名博士后研究员将参与现象性质的研究。计划中，一位博士研究员将专注于与问题的“主观维度”相关的问题，即我们对现象性品质的主观体验对当前物理主义版本的影响。第二个博士研究员将专注于与问题的“客观维度”相关的问题：感知现象学，以及感知理论对我们感知的物理事物的潜在客观本质问题的影响。将建立一个网站，并将把讨论会系列的适当草稿材料放在网上。第二阶段将在项目的第二年组织两个讲习班，分别讨论一般问题的主观和客观方面。由此产生的材料将在网上提供，促进讨论并允许对研究产生反馈。第三阶段将主要集中在最后一年年底的国际会议上，该领域的主要国际理论家将向该会议发表论文。我们还设想完成2个博士学位，博士后专著，并由每个项目的两名研究人员评审文章。会议记录将被编辑并提交给世界出版集团或其他主要出版商。在最后阶段，研究成果将以印刷形式传播，并酌情在网上传播；同时网站的维护也促进了这一领域的持续研究。

This project will explore issues connected with the exact nature of the phenomenal aspects of experience. In perceptual and related experiences subjects are aware of a range of phenomenal qualities: these are the colours, sounds, and so on, which are immediately present in conscious experience. There is currently broad-ranging debate about the reality and cognitive role of phenomenal qualities. There is no settled view about their status either as subjective - belonging to inner mental items of some kind - or as objective, dependent in some way upon the properties of the surrounding objects perceived. Nor is there agreement about the ultimate ontological status of phenomenal qualities, and how they are related to the entities postulated in our best current scientific explanations about the underlying structure of physical things. The research will seek to answer the following questions: (1) In what sense can we say that phenomenal qualities exist? What is the relation of phenomenal qualities to cognitive processes? Do they form a distinct component in consciousness, or do they, in some respects, parallel conceptual states as distinctive perceptual ways of representing facts about the world?(2) How are phenomenal qualities related to the mind? Where are phenomenal qualities located - are they subjective states of the experiencing subject? Or should phenomenal qualities, at least when they occur in normal perception, be understood as in some manner dependent on the objective properties of the external objects perceived?(3) What is the ultimate ontological nature of phenomenal qualities? How can we reconcile our current scientific theories about the real underlying physical nature of persons and objects with the existence of conscious experience and with the phenomenology of perception? Should we embrace a radical revision or extension of fundamental physics, as some theorists suggest?The research will be organised into four interconnected phases of enquiry: The first phase will consist of a series of seminars, extending over the course of two semesters, with papers from leading theorists in philosophy and cognitive science on the general topic of the nature and role of phenomenal qualities in perception and in hallucination. Concurrently, two PhD students, together with one post-doctoral researcher, will be engaged to research the nature of phenomenal qualities. It is planned that one of the doctoral researchers will focus on issues connected with the 'subjective dimension' of the problems, that is, on the implications of our subjective experience of phenomenal qualities for current versions of physicalism. The second doctoral researcher will focus on issues connected with the 'objective dimension' of the problems: on the phenomenology of perception, and the implications of theories of perception for questions concerning the underlying objective nature of the physical things we perceive. A web-site will be established, and suitable draft material from the seminar series will be placed online.The second phase will involve organising two workshops covering respectively the subjective and objective aspects of the general problem, in the second year of the project. The resulting material will be made available online, facilitating discussion and allowing for the generation of feedback on the research.The third phase will focus mainly upon the international conference, at the end of the final year, to which leading international theorists in this area will give papers. We also envisage the completion of 2 PhDs, the post-doctoral monograph, and refereed articles by each of the project's two investigators. The conference proceedings will be edited and submitted to OUP or other leading publisher.The final phase will see the dissemination of the research both in print, and where appropriate, online; and also the maintenance of the website to stimulate continuing research in this area.