Vladimir A. Lefebvre (1997) Objective Evidence of Subjective Phenomena. Psycoloquy: 8(11) Human Choice (11)

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PSYCOLOQUY (ISSN 1055-0143) is sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Psycoloquy 8(11): Objective Evidence of Subjective Phenomena

OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE OF SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA
Reply to Rapoport on Human-Choice

Vladimir A. Lefebvre
School of Social Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California

VALEFEBV@UCI.EDU

Abstract

The possibility of an operational description of the human subjective domain is discussed.

Keywords

choice; computation; decision theory; ethical cognition; mathematical psychology; model building; parameter estimation; probability; rationality.
1. Anatol Rapoport mentions that "In turning away from self- observation and from concepts in which mental phenomena play an important part, the behaviorists believed that they were putting psychology on a more solid 'objective' basis" (Rapoport, 1996, par. 8). Further Rapoport gives a brilliant example of the subjectivity within behaviorism itself.

2. I agree that behavioristic methodology has serious weaknesses. But we have to admit that behaviorists tried to describe the results of their observations in clear operational terms, and that this kind of description is close to that used in the natural sciences.

3. Although I am not sure that the inner human domain can be represented exhaustively by operational concepts, such a representation, nevertheless, seems the ideal to strive to if we want to remain within the framework of science.

4. In this connection, I want to recall the hypothesis suggested in my target article (Lefebvre, 1995), which has not yet received comments. As I demonstrated there, the mathematical model of the Realist describes both the human subjective domain and an elementary thermodynamic process.

5. Such a coincidence may be evidence of a relation between mental phenomena and the statistical behavior of neuron nets in the brain. If so, we can hope to find objective grounds for the study of subjective phenomena (Lefebvre, 1997).

REFERENCES

Lefebvre, V.A. (1995). The Anthropic Principle in Psychology and Human Choice. PSYCOLOQUY 6(29) human-choice.1.lefebvre.

Lefebvre, V.A. (1997) The Cosmic Subject. Moscow: The Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Psychology Press.

Rapoport, A. (1996) Probabilistic choice and Lefebvre's Model of Human Reflection, PSYCOLOQUY 7 (27) human-choice.8.rapoport.


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