Amijee, Fatema. The Role of Attention in Russell’s Theory of Knowledge
2013, British Journal for the History of Philosophy 21 (6):1175-1193.
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Added by: Chris Blake-Turner, Contributed by: Dominic Alford-DuguidAbstract: In his Problems of Philosophy, Bertrand Russell distinguished knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge of truths. This paper argues for a new interpretation of the relationship between these two species of knowledge. I argue that knowledge by acquaintance of an object neither suffices for knowledge that one is acquainted with the object, nor puts a subject in a position to know that she is acquainted with the object. These conclusions emerge from a thorough examination of the central role played by attention in Russell's theory of knowledge. Attention bridges the gap between knowledge by acquaintance and our capacity to form judgements about the objects of acquaintance.Comment: This is a stub entry. Please add your comments below to help us expand it
Masuda, Takahiko, others. Culture and aesthetic preference: comparing the attention to context of East Asians and Americans
2008, Personality and social psychology bulletin 34(9): 1260-1275.
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Added by: Simon FoktAbstract: Prior research indicates that East Asians are more sen- sitive to contextual information than Westerners. This article explored aesthetics to examine whether cultural variations were observable in art and photography. Study 1 analyzed traditional artistic styles using archival data in representative museums. Study 2 investigated how contemporary East Asians and Westerners draw landscape pictures and take portrait photographs. Study 3 further investigated aesthetic preferences for portrait photographs. The results suggest that (a) traditional East Asian art has predominantly context-inclusive styles, whereas Western art has predominantly object- focused styles, and (b) contemporary members of East Asian and Western cultures maintain these culturally shaped aesthetic orientations. The findings can be explained by the relation among attention, cultural resources, and aesthetic preference.Comment: This text is an excellent example of experimental aesthetics and psychology of art: it presents evidence that what seems natural or aesthetically pleasing can differ across cultures. This makes it useful in classes focusing on non-Western art or on the universality vs. relativity of taste. Since the text is focused on the psychology, it will likely be best used as a background reading alongside more philosophical works.
Weil, Simone. Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies With a View to the Love of God (1950)
2009, New York: HarperCollins.
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Added by: Deryn Mair ThomasAbstract:
Comment: This text provides a novel analysis of the concept of attention and explores the role that education plays in cultivating the capacity to attend. Weil is especially interested in the relationship between attention and spiritual meditation (which she refers to as prayer) but the implications of her analysis reach well beyond the religious sphere. Her approach, as was true in the case with most of her philosophy, is idiosyncratic, employing both analytic and continential elements. As a result, the essay could be used in any course or reading group that was interested in studying alternative philosophical methodologies, or underexplored philosophical topic areas. This essay in particular is fairly short, so with careful attention and some guidance, could be used for introductory level students - but there is more than enough philosophical content for it to provide fruitful discussion to more advanced groups.
Whiteley, Ella Kate. Attentional discrimination and victim testimony
2024, Philosophical Psychology, 37:6, 1407-1431
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Added by: Heng Ying, Contributed by: Heng YingAbstract:
Sometimes, a form of discrimination is hard to register, understand, and articulate. A rich precedent demonstrates how victim testimonies have been key in uncovering such “hidden” forms of discrimination, from sexual harassment to microaggressions. I reflect on how this plausibly goes too for “attentional discrimination”, referring to cases where the more meaningful attributes of one social group are made salient in attention in contrast to the less meaningful attributes of another. Victim testimonies understandably dominate the “context-of-discovery” stage of research into these initially opaque forms of discrimination; a victim’s encounter with the gap between their experience and dominant conceptual frameworks for understanding it is what provides an initial foothold for analysis to begin. Some object, however, to this methodology continuing to dominate the later “context-of-justification” stage, where the hypothesis is rigorously challenged. I argue that this objection underestimates not just how other methodologies are more likely to inherit the various mechanisms of invisibility hiding the discrimination in question, but also how victim testimonies are distinctively well-suited to recognize and challenge those mechanisms. Victim testimonies, then, ought to continue playing a dominant role into these later stages of research regarding hidden forms of discrimination.Comment: 1) Whiteley discusses an issue arising in interpersonal interactions, how individuals' preferred traits are ignored and how people often look at others through their preferred lens. This identifies a form of discrimination not fully articulated in the previous work. It could be used for discussions of ideas such as respect of personhood. 2) This paper also introduces testimonies of victims of this form of discrimination as a useful tool for identifying new social issues and justifying new moral claims. It motivates methodological reflection on how we bring lived experiences into discussions of morality.
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