By Schubert Ogden
Page History
I now realize, after a recent close re-reading, that my distinction between the two dimensions or aspects of experience as respectively "vertical" and "horizontal," or "existential" and "empirical," is simply my way of naming the very things to which Whitehead refers when he says, "Our more direct experience groups itself into two large divisions, each capable of further analysis," and continues:
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One division is formed by the sense of qualitative experience derived from antecedent fact, enjoyed in the personal unity of present fact, and conditioning future fact. In this division of experience, there are the sense of derivation from without, the sense of enjoyment within, and the sense of transmission beyond. This complex sense of enjoyment involves the past, the present, the future |
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. |
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It |
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is |
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at |
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once |
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complex, |
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vague, |
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and |
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imperative. |
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It |
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is |
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the |
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realization |
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of |
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our |
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essential |
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connection |
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with |
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the |
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world |
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without, |
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and |
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also |
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of |
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our |
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own |
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individual |
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existence |
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[sic |
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! |
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], |
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now. |
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It |
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carries |
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with |
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it |
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the |
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placing |
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of |
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our |
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immediate |
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experience |
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as |
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a |
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fact |
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in |
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history, |
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derivative, |
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actual, |
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and |
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effective. |
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It |
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also |
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carries |
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with |
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it |
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the |
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sense |
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of |
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immediate |
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experience |
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as |
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the |
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essence |
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of |
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an |
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individual |
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fact |
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with |
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its |
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own |
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qualities. |
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The |
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main |
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characteristic |
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of |
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such |
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experience |
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is |
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complexity, |
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vagueness, |
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and |
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compulsive intensity. |
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In |
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one |
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respect |
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the |
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vagueness |
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yields |
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a |
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comparatively |
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sharp |
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cut |
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division, |
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namely, |
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the |
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differentiation |
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of |
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the |
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world |
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into |
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the |
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animal |
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body |
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which |
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is |
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the |
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region |
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of |
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intimate, |
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intense, |
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mutual |
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expression, |
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and |
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the |
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rest |
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of |
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nature |
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where |
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the |
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intimacy |
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and |
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intensity |
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of |
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feeling |
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fails |
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to |
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penetrate. . . . The |
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behaviour-system |
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of |
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the |
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body |
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has |
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an |
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element |
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of |
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direct |
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relationship |
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with |
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the |
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transitions |
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of |
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quality |
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in |
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personal |
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experience. |
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This |
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directness |
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is |
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lacking |
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in |
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the |
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relationship |
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of |
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the |
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external |
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world |
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to |
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the |
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flux |
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of |
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feeling |
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. . . . |
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The |
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behaviour-systems |
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of |
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the |
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human |
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body |
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and |
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of |
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intimate |
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experience |
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are |
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closely entangled. The second division of human experience has a character very different from the first division of bodily feelings. It lacks the intimacy, the intensity, and the vagueness. It consists of the discrimination of forms as expressing external natural facts in their relationship to the body. Let this division be termed 'sense-perception.' Now sense-perception belongs to the higher animals. . . . [As we know it in human experience, i]t is a sophisticated derivative from the more primitive bodily experience which constitute[s] the division of experience first considered. But it has outgrown its origin, and has inverted every emphasis. Its primary characteristic is clarity, distinctness, and indifference (MTr 71 ff.) |
Incidentally, I find it interesting that Whitehead himself can think and speak in terms of "aspects" as well as "divisions" of experience -- as when he says, e.g., "The starting point of philosophy is the determination of that aspect of experience which most fully exhibits the universal necessities of existence" (113). entangled._ _It_ _consists of the discrimination of forms as expressing external natural facts in their relationship to the body. Let this division be termed 'sense-perception.'_ _it_ _in human experience, i\]t is a sophisticated derivative from the more primitive bodily experience which constitute\[s\] the division of experience first considered. But it has outgrown its origin, and has inverted every emphasiS. Its primary characteristic is clarity, distinctness, and indifference_ _(MTr·_ _71_ _ff.)_ _Incidentally, I find it interesting that Whitehead himself can think and speak in terms of "aspects" as well as "divisions" of experience-as when he says, e.g., "The starting point of philosophy is the determination of that aspect of experience which most fully exhibits the universal necessities of existence" (113)._
8 August 2001
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