Introduction

This chapter outlines the dimensions of the phenomenon. It deals with a general definition of reflection than with its varieties, its ubiquity and importance. The chapter describes what can be termed the reflective structure of the mind and its constructs and pleads for a conceptualistic understanding of abstract objects. It also describes a simple argument against materialistic reductions of the mental on this reflective structure. The difficulty of reflecting on reflection lies not in a lack of acquaintance with the phenomenon but rather in the invisibility of the familiar. In the hierarchical construction of abstract objects, the reactive structure of the mental and its fundamental role become especially clear. Set theory is not only a mathematical discipline; it is also the most developed theory of mental operations. Philosophy of mind should therefore pay it the attention it deserves, and that is much more than it has yet received.