ABSTRACT
Phenomenalism is the doctrine that all statements about material objects can be completely analysed into statements about sense-data. The analysis of any such statement must be very complex; and the value of the “material-object language” is that it enables us to refer in one word, such as “table,” to a vast number of sense-data differing very much among themselves. The phenomenalist answer to the difficulties involves a radical reinterpretation of the whole notion of a permanent material thing. According to the phenomenalist, such statements about possible sense-data constitute the whole of what the statement about the table means. Logical consistency requires that the permanence and causal activity of A. Jones’ mind should be interpreted in the same manner as the permanence and causal activity of the fire or of Jones’ body. Many phenomenalists, determined to adhere consistently to their principles, have accepted this view of the matter.
