IMMANENT REALISM
SYNTHESE LIBRARY STUDIES IN EPISTEMOLOGY, LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Editor-in-Chief: VINCENT F. HENDRICKS, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark JOHN SYMONS, University of Texas at El Paso, U.S.A. Honorary Editor: JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Boston University, U.S.A. Editors: DIRK VAN DALEN, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands THEO A.F. KUIPERS, University of Groningen, The Netherlands TEDDY SEIDENFELD, Carnegie Mellon University, U.S.A. PATRICK SUPPES, Stanford University, California, U.S.A. JAN WOLEŃSKI, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland VOLUME 333
IMMANENT REALISM AN INTRODUCTION TO BRENTANO by LILIANA ALBERTAZZI Trento University, Rovereto Branch, Italy and Mitteleuropa Foundation, Bolzano, Italy
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN-10 1-4020-4201-9 (HB) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4201-0 (HB) ISBN-10 1-4020-4202-7 (e-book) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4202-7 (e-book) Published by Springer, P.O. Box 17, 3300 AA Dordrecht, The Netherlands. www.springeronline.com Printed on acid-free paper All Rights Reserved 2006 Springer No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed in the Netherlands.
To Bruno Giordano Albertazzi, my father For his independence, consistency and imagination In memoriam
Contents Acknowledgements Terminological note INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1. A LIFE, A NOVEL CHAPTER 2. BRENTANO AND ARISTOTLE CHAPTER 3. PSYCHOLOGY FROM AN EMPIRICAL STANDPOINT CHAPTER 4. METAPHYSICS AND THE SCIENCE OF THE SOUL CHAPTER 5. A WOODWORM IN THE INTENTIONAL RELATION CHAPTER 6. FICCIONES CHAPTER 7. CONTINUA CHAPTER 8. REVERSE ARISTOTELIANISM: METAPHYSICS OF ACCIDENTS CHAPTER 9. OTHER WRITINGS: ETHICS, AESTHETICS AND HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY CHAPTER 10. A HISTORY OF BRENTANO CRITICISM CHAPTER 11. A WAGER ON THE FUTURE ix xi 1 5 43 83 123 155 189 233 269 295 313 335 BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES 341 REFERENCES 355 INDEX OF NAMES 373 vii
Acknowledgements I wish to express my thanks to J. Jan Koenderink, Osvaldo da Pos, Lia Formigari, Edgar Morscher, and Roberto Poli for their comments and criticism. Their patience with my questions and their care for my work have been truly invaluable. I would also gratefully mention the atmosphere of the Mitteleuropa Foundation, at which many chapters of the book have been conceived and written, while thinking of the future development of Franz Brentano s ideas in cognitive science research. ix
Terminological note There follows a list of some choices made in regard to the English translation of Brentano s terminology. The choices have been made on theoretical grounds and they sometimes do not correspond to the currently available English translations of Brentano s texts. In the case of quotations, if I have made changes to the already-existing translation, I have said so in the footnotes. I have translated Intentionale Inexistenz as intentional in/existence, using the typological device to emphasise the Latin aspect of inhabitatio in the mental existence of psychic phenomena, while I have used inherence for Einwohnen. I have translated Seele as psyche, thereby respecting its Aristotelian origin, and preferring it to mind. Appearance has been preserved to denote physical phenomena. Vorstellung has been translated as presentation, indicating the act or the psychic phenomenon. Its meaning is clearly distinguished from that of Darstellung (representation); in fact, the German prepositions vor and dar refer to different spatial relationships, from the exterior to the interior and vice versa. Specifically, the concept of Vorstellung refers to the concrete act of presentation here and now in the time of presentness. The concept of Darstellung, vice versa, is related both to the concept of representance (Stellvertretung) that is, the function of symbolising objects and states of affairs which in particular characterises the representative function of language (Darstellungsfunktion der Sprache) and to the concept of communication (Mittheilung). I translate intentionale Beziehung as intentional reference rather than as intentional relation, in order to emphasise the ontological character of psyxi
xii Immanent Realism chic reference to things by acts. I have used relation (Relation) for other cases. Vielheit has been rendered as multiplicity, and sometimes as plurality if connected with the etymological meaning of many, Vielfachheit as being multiple, Vielfältigkeit as multiformity, in order to convey the different meaning of the entity and the different nature of the continua in Brentano. As to Brentano s works, for each of them I first give the German title and its English translation in brackets. In the case of works translated into English, their successive quotations bear the English title. Finally, as far as quotations in Greek language are concerned, given the variety of accents used in the English translations of Brentano s works, I have chosen to use a transliteration of the words without accents.