The Mental Grounds for the Emergence of Objective Mental Reality

Summary

Mental reality emerges through a progression from simple sensations to complex verbal concepts that constitute entities in the world. Unlike cognitive psychology's functional view, a phenomenological model describes this development: sensation leads to mental images, then to sensory mental constructions (integrative representations), next to notions (word images with symbolic meaning), and finally to verbal constructions with abstract concepts. Verbal images of words acquire symbolic significance, becoming representations of other entities. Externalizing notions and verbal constructions as language allows transmission between individuals who share that language.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This chapter is devoted to the analysis of the mental preconditions for the formation of objective mental reality. It critiques the approach of cognitive psychology, which tends to treat mental representations primarily as functional or computational structures that lack definition in terms of phenomenology. As an alternative, the author proposes a phenomenological model that describes the process of the progressive complication of mental phenomena, united by a common nature: from sensation—to a mental image (of perception, memory, or imagination), then to a sensory mental construction (an integrative representation, or sensory concept), next to a notion (an image of a word with symbolic meaning), and finally to a verbal construction that includes verbal concepts capable of representing abstract entities. It is demonstrated that the primary outcome of the psyche’s functioning is not just the creation of complex mental structures, but the formation—through them—of entities (physical, social, and mental) in the world around us. Some mental constructions are concepts that represent entities in the world and are associated with images of words (notions) that denote corresponding entities. Concepts may be sensory, verbal, or mixed. Phenomenologically, verbal images (notions) are auditory and visual mental images of physical objects—words, that are accessible to perception. However, unlike images of other objects, images of words acquire an additional symbolic significance in the consciousness. This makes them more than just representations of words—they become symbols of other entities designated by those words. The externalization of notions and verbal constructions in the form of linguistic constructions makes it possible to transmit them to other individuals who speak the same language. Notions and verbal constructions are a mode of existence and expression of human reason.

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