A Sensible World. The Problem of Secondary Qualities in and around the School of Brentano

• Applicant: Dr. Hamid Taieb
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 437849124

The problem of secondary qualities is one of the most fascinating in philosophy. It emerges from a clash between our ordinary and scientific beliefs. Our perception shows us a world containing sensory qualities such as colours, sounds, etc.: a sensible world. However, physics teaches us that the world is just a dark and silent heap of particles; colours, sounds, etc., are only derived “secondary” qualities, mere appearances arising from the action of the physical “primary” qualities on our senses. Hence the problem: Do colours, sounds, etc., exist independently of us, and if not, to what extent do their appearances provide us with an adequate knowledge of reality?The standard narrative identifies the origin of this problem in early modern times. In contemporary philosophy, the debate on secondary qualities is still vivid. But what happened in between? As this project will show, one of the most systematic and original treatments of the problem in the history of philosophy remains ignored. There is a rich discussion on this problem at the turn of the 20th century in the Austro-German tradition, more precisely in and around the School of Brentano.Whereas the problem of secondary qualities is usually treated as one of metaphysics and epistemology, the originality of the Austro-German authors consisted in the addition of a third ingredient: phenomenology. These authors wanted to have a clear view of the relations between what things are (metaphysics), what we know about them (epistemology), and how they appear to us (phenomenology). They offered various phenomenological analyses of sensation, various views on the metaphysics of sensory qualities, and various positions on the epistemic reliability of sensation. Moreover, they wondered how phenomenology, metaphysics, and epistemology combine. Thus, their treatment of the problem reveals detailed reflections on the primacy and interaction among these three major philosophical disciplines. This project will study the Austro-German debate by reconstructing it following the three axes of the phenomenology, metaphysics, and epistemology of sensory qualities.Methodologically, this project will develop a “network history of philosophy.” This approach does not focus on “big names”, but on series of authors; it starts from specific problems and explores the various solutions that members of a certain tradition gave to them. This will show that the problem of secondary qualities did not only find an interesting treatment in major figures of the Austro-German tradition – e.g. Brentano and Husserl – but that there are other, less well-known heroes in this story – H. Conrad-Martius, M. Geiger, F. Heinemann, A. Höfler, E. Landmann-Kalischer, H. Leyendecker, P. Linke, E. Mally, A. Marty, A. Oelzelt-Newin, A. Pfänder, W. Schapp, E. Stein, S. Witasek. This will contribute to a broader, topical programme, that of rewriting the canon in the history of philosophy.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups