conceptual inquiry regarding meaning » intelligibility » subjectivity
Subjectivity is a condition of being immersed in a world, feeling its pressures, being affected by it. Subjective experiences are qualitative—those we undergo. Most of this no-doubt occurs without conscious reflection. It's largely dispositional. How situations affect us is in large part determined by what we bring to situations, and what we bring is the quality of our character (understood broadly as involving our history and habits, but also our biology, brain chemistry, and so on). Character/disposition largely pre-determines (before consicous reflection) how being in the world affects us.
Within the field of subjectivity, experiencer as dynamic and experienced as self are placed in relation to one other by the activity of experiencing as world (a mode of attending, attending to wholes). The triangle in the top image to the right orthogonally depicts a cone whose apex falls right of the center line and whose vertically-oriented base (viewed edge-on) is formed as the cone opens, flaring out to the left. The apex represents subjectivity's mode of experiencing/attending. The cone's base represents the common ground established between experiencer (at the top) and experienced (at the bottom). Toggling A-phase correlation under the image will show the cone's components, the colors of which correspond with the items in this table:
| M | subjectivity: holistic attending to qualitative experience, toward acquaintance knowledge |
| experiencer as dynamic = a durational point of view (fluid, flexible), the nature of which is an ongoing process of transformation | |
| experiencing as world = holistic attending; attending in an open/receptive mode, broadening the scope of attention | |
| experienced as self = that which is uniquely presented to a particular experiencer (qualia; what-it's-like to be a contexualized individual) |
The subjective mode of attention takes it all in. Before noticing the relevance of what we're experiencing, and certainly before focusing on particular aspects of our experience, we undergo the experience as a whole. Most of this won't even be noticed by our conscious mind. The point of view from which we take this in is that of patient—"one who is acted upon"—and this occurs in real time, so the point of view is durational. That's how the experiencer keeps up with the always new experiences presented to it, and how it's able to take them in immediately, without first filtering them through thoughts and judgments. Experiencer as dynamic undergoes a continuous process of transformation as it meets immediately that which is experienced, where that which is paradigmatically experienced is the qualitative phenomena that comes with being uniquely positioned in a context. It's the immediate "feeling" of what-it's-like to be that individual given the unique pressures exerted upon it by its particular circumstances. Again, as qualitative phenomena change in real time, the durational point of view is necessary for capturing the experience. And as the qualitative experience always consists of the synthesis of innumerable particular sense data (aspects of vision, hearing, taste, and so on), an holistic mode of attending is necessary for presenting those data as a coherent whole.
Acquaintance knowledge is the type of knowledge made possible by the qualitative experiences of subjectivity. This knowledge is achieved when that which is experienced is immediately presented to the experiencer. This occurs in perception quite readily. So, for example, you immediately know what a peach tastes like while eating one (presuming your capacity for registering taste isn't impaired). But the knowledge that comes via subjectivity isn't just perceptual in nature. It involves knowing what it's like to undergo any experience. So, take for instance, a reggae concert. You could have attended a reggae concert and still not fully know what it's like to have been there. If you don't open up and let your body be moved by the music freely, you're missing the full experience, and so you haven't been successful in acquiring complete acquaintance knowledge of that event.
The experience that grounds subjectivity in truth is the experience of being immediately in touch with that which is experienced. Experiencer and experienced collapse toward an identity. But that doesn't mean that other types of knowledge won't appear at the same time. So, for example, when we see a tree, we don't see the sense data then infer the presence of a tree; we immediately see what we're seeing as a tree, and this involves a judgment, which is connected with propositional knowledge and objectivity. Upon seeing a tree, we're also immediately impressed by the relevance the tree has for us, which is connected with skillful knowledge and activity. But the truth of acquaintance knowledge about seeing a tree will be connected to an experience of seeing a tree as if for the first time.
