since Descartes at least
the argument on both sides of the river is that inner experience is privileged
in that it is my experience and direct
we begin with consciousness
and its relationship with the outside world
this - a primal reflection
(you don't have to start with this reflection
you can begin where and how you like
but as a starting point it is rather uncontraversial
it is where I start)
OK
but let's not get too excited
about inner experience
firstly it is not at all clear what it is
even from the inside
how do I describe my thoughts -
if that's the tag I'm going to give inner experience?
well with other - what?
thoughts
so - there is no explanation
x is x
perhaps in different clothes
at different times
we don't know what inner experience is
what experience is
we can describe it logically
i.e. - it is not - that which is not experienced
?
yes
you think I jest
experience - is what it is - whatever that is - and not what it is not
since we can reflect on the matter and come at it from different angles
different characterizations are possible
only characterizations of thought by thought
and we need also to ask -
just how inner - inner is?
I grant it is compelling at a primal level
but reflectively it is anything but -
or should I say does not have to be
perhaps inner experience - is only inner because it works best to divide reality so?
if you take the view - e.g. - that everything that exists is fundamentally of the same status - whatever that may be
you might say - everything is objective - even the so called inner life
this I think is Spinoza's view of the matter
that it is just - another natural fact
a fact that has the same status -
as other objective states - i.e. the weather
and is therefore in no sense privileged
perhaps if you like - seen from an objective stand point -
to be just another - unremarkable - fact of the world
knowledge just another natural phenomenon
and so there are views -
and views - perspectives - perceptions -
are just like leaves on a tree
there is no privilege
inner experience
my sense of myself is what?
an inner experience?
how is this to be distinguished from the outside?
my body in the world -
isn't this all I know?
and is this inner experience?
of what - the outside?
how to distinguish inner from outer?
what separates?
