Transcendental Psychology Research Articles

Kant’s Transcendental-Psychological Approach to Metaphysics

ABSTRACT The paper reinterprets Kant’s Copernican revolution as a transcendental-psychological transformation in the approach to metaphysics. It tackles the prevalent scholarly view that Kant’s theory of the faculty of cognition appears incompatible with his broader metaphysical framework of transcendental idealism, primarily due to difficulties in integrating cognitive faculties such as sensibility and understanding within the dichotomy of appearances and things in themselves. The paper proposes that Kant’s transcendental psychology is neither a metaphysical-rational doctrine of the noumenal mind, nor an empirical-naturalized study of the phenomenal mind. Instead, it presents a theory centered on the transcendental subject as an abstract entity, positing it as the hypothetical bearer of the cognitive functions necessary for all potential finite cognizers, with humans exemplifying a particular empirical realization. While empirical realizations of cognitive functions manifest through temporal-causal mechanisms, their transcendental grounds consist of abstract functional structures defined by unschematized categories. These transcendental functions, which determine the necessary conditions for objective cognition, also inherently define the fundamental structure of all possible objects of cognition. Kant’s metaphysical inquiry into the structure of reality is thus conducted through an examination of the faculty of cognition, showcasing a revolutionary transcendental-psychological approach to metaphysics.

Trinitary Approach as a Methodological Principle of Transcendental Psychology

At present, according to many psychologists, the methodology of psychology is in a state of crisis, the reasons for which are quite deep and go beyond psychology. It is becoming increasingly clear that psychology and the methodology of psychology, in particular, cannot do without turning to philosophy when tackling its issues, hoping that it is the philosophical analysis of the universal laws of nature that will allow the methodology of psychology to be built on a more fundamental basis. This article is one of such attempts that shows the possibility of applying a trinitarian approach to solve some problems in psychology. To demonstrate the universality of the manifestations of the principle of trinity in nature and cognition, the article, as far as its scopes allow to, provides examples of the manifestation of triads in philosophy, physics, mathematics, anatomy, physiology, and in the psychological concepts of B. Skinner, S. Freud, C. G. Jung, E. Bern and M. Erickson. The possibility of using trinitarity as a methodological principle of psychology is shown in the example of the analysis of the mechanisms of the generative process of perception studied in transcendental psychology.

La durée pure dans l’œuvre du jeune Tanabe Hajime : entre intuition et réduction

Pure duration plays a central role in Tanabe Hajime’s early authorship. Through the 1910s, this Bergsonian concept is first used to characterize “pure” or “immediate experience” in such a manner that it can be integrated in the neo-Kantian framework, allowing Tanabe to rethink Rickert’s conception of “consciousness in general.” Turning towards a theory of time, Tanabe sees pure duration as the supra-temporal stratus of consciousness upon which phenomenological time, logical time, etc. are constituted. The question of how this fundamental stratus can be thematized in a methodologically sound manner leads Tanabe to endorse a “transcendental psychology” consisting in the “reconstructive subjectivation” that he finds in Natorp. He thereby distances himself from intuition as a philosophical method, and implicitly from Nishida Kitarô’s critique of Bergson. Pure duration is furthermore discussed in the context of the Fichtean Tathandlung. As the earlier concept of pure/immediate experience, the Tathandlung designates a primordial unity of act and content, subject and object, of which philosophy can however grasp one aspect alone. A tension remains, therefore, between the necessity of conceiving, with pure duration as a model, of a continuity between subject and world, and the methodological limitations of philosophy.

Experimental Verification of the Relationship Formation Model in the Process of Visual Perception

The transcendental psychology approach to the study of perception (A.I. Mirakyan) assumes that in the perception there are so-called structurally-generative processes. Their study is based on an axiomatic methodology, which includes general natural principles for the formation of relationships that provide conditions and opportunities for creating forms in visual perception. The conducted experiment was devoted to the experimental verification of a theoretical model presenting a hierarchy of center-symmetrical and temporary relationships. Experiments included perception of short-term displayed contour symmetric objects that vary in size at a fairly high speed. The method was based on the detection of the place of the Fröhlich effect (onset or offset) for stimuli increasing and decreasing in size. The studied model indicated the possibility of the appearance of subjects of the reversed Fröhlich effect (it is offset as representational momentum but reversed in time) for stimuli decreasing in size at high speeds. The experiments showed that for a speed of 15 deg/s, the percentage of such subjects was 8%, and for a speed of 30 deg/s—22%, while for a speed of 60 deg/s this percentage exceeds 65%. For the last speed, there were a significant number of tests with the reversed Fröhlich effect, which was predicted by the model. Thus, we see possibility to verify the proposed theoretical model, although the conclusions made require further theoretical and experimental verification. Transcendental psychology approach provides alternative explanations for phenomena, which are determined by the principles of Gestalt psychology.

THE FOUNDATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIAN PSYCHOLOGICAL THOUGHT

In this paper discussed the works of Armenian philosophers about human psyche in chronological order. It also referred to the works of Armenian psychologists and their possible role in the creation of an Armenian psychological direction.
 The last part of the article introduces the Armenian psychologist A. I. Mirakyan's scientific concept, which is known as "Transcendental Psychology". The work also presents the role of transcendental psychology in the new solution of the current problems facing psychology.

СОСТОЯНИЯ СОЗНАНИЯ, ПРОБЛЕМА НАБЛЮДАТЕЛЯ, ПОЗНАНИЕ (ИЛИ О ЕДИНСТВЕ ТРАНСЦЕНДЕНТАЛЬНОЙ ПСИХОЛОГИИ, ФИЗИКИ И ФИЛОСОФИИ). ЧАСТЬ II

The article notes that the main conclusion of the first part of the article is that the perception of the world (observation, measurement, presentation of the worldview, etc.) always takes place through the subject of perception, depends on its subjectivity, in particular, on the states of consciousness. This leads to the formation of different ways of understanding and investigating phenomena of the surrounding reality. The reason of such differences in perception of the world is that every single researcher, observing the world or, studying the phenomena of the world, taking the position of an external (external, objective, «divine») observer, does not notice that he excluded himself, his personality, uniqueness of his cognitive abilities from the act of observation. Such an observer is obviously aware that he is looking at the world, but is not aware of the influence of his own subjectivity on the result of perception. The article shows that the problem is much deeper and more complex. The fact is that even after becoming aware of the influence of one's own subjectivity on the result of perception, one is unable to become aware of the mental activity that generates these results-the reality of the mental phenomena of perception and thinking. Awareness of these gaps in cognition leads to transcendental problems. The need then arises for a clearer understanding of what the characteristics of the observer are and how the results of observation relate to an objective reality that exists outside of human consciousness and perceptions, but is inaccessible to direct observation. Defining the role of the observer in cognition can make new adjustments in the creation and development of scientific research methodologies. The differences that exist between the concepts of external and internal observer are pointed out. The difficulties encountered by transcendental psychology in using methods of classical science based on data obtained from the external observer position are shown. The problems were solved in the transition to the position of the internal observer. An example of a similar transition is «Copernican revolution» made by I. Kant in philosophy. The transition to the position of an internal observer turned out to be fruitful for physics as well. The studies of A. V. Kaminsky and D. Spencer-Brown, analyzed in this article, testify to it.

Онтологический и эпистемологический аспекты моделирования: модельное отношение и адиафорные системы

<p>Based on the consideration of the modelling relation proposed by R. Rosen, the article presents ontological and epistemological aspects of modeling causal system processes. The modelling relation makes it possible to compare systems and their models, and also allows to proceed to the definition and well-known formalization of measurement processes. The considered ontological aspect of modeling includes the concept of complex systems and, in the case of impredicative systems, allows us to speak about the allocation of a qualitatively more complex class of supercomplex systems. In epistemological terms, based on the provisions of transcendental psychology, the definition of generating (form-generating) systems is given as adiaphoric systems, whose mechanisms, as a rule, do not manifest themselves in generated forms and products. The adiaphoric nature of the processes under study does not directly depend on the ontological complexity of the modeled system and means that the system generates new structures and forms, regardless of any manifested properties or produced parts and products. Adiaphoric systems can take place when considering the processes of transition between backbone form-generating structures studied by various hierarchically interconnected sciences.</p>

The Effect of Perceptual-Semantic Blindness in Solving Semantic Problems with Visual Means Containing the Solution

In the light of the Cultural-Historical Theory (L.S. Vygotsky) and the Theory of Transcendental Psychology of Perception (A.I. Mirakyan), the author considers the position and functional role of the perceptual process in the development of the mind of an adult. The hypothesis is that the functional role of perception in the mind of the person at the end of its period of maturation is subordinate to the higher mental functions, in particular, the process of thinking, which is based on the search for a person available memory capacity and the possibility of finding knowledge in the relevant external sources. Therefore, in semantic terms, visual perception can be excluded from a conscious process of finding semantic solutions. This suggests the subordinate function of visual perception in cognitive adult life and the virtually automatic nature of the process that serves the knowledge-based development opportunities. In this context, we presented and experimentally tested on 30 students the effect of perceptual-semantic blindness, which shows that the mental process of solving semantic tasks is in the main ignoring additional visual stimuli containing the solution in the general visual field. In contrast to inattentional blindness, these stimuli are constantly presented in the field of vision and perceptual blindness was due not so much to inattention, but semantic processes. The presented effect of perceptual-semantic blindness is clearly expressed in more than 60% of cases (up to 100% for graphical variants). This situation can be regarded as the result of a kind of sociocultural development, formed in the conditions of modern information technology society. It also points to the need for special and purposeful perceptual-cognitive training as one of the effective means of using unclaimed perceptual possibilities to avoid the phenomena of perceptual-semantic blindness. These means are especially important for the educational process.

МЕТАФИЗИЧЕСКОЕ ЕДИНСТВО ТРАНСЦЕНДЕНТАЛЬНОЙ ПСИХОЛОГИИ И КВАНТОВОЙ МЕХАНИКИ. ЧАСТЬ 1

Since the beginning of the XXI st century, there has been a process of intense convergence and interpenetration of two seemingly opposing sciences – quantum mechanics and psychology. In accordance with it, the question arises about a common methodological foundation for these sciences. The article shows that the “first philosophy” of Aristotle can serve as a general philosophical methodology for these sciences. In the context of the metaphysical triad necessarypossible-real, the “intersection points” of A. I. Mirakyan’s transcendental psychology and A. Yu. Sevalnikov’s interpretation of quantum mechanics. The article examines the features of the formation of a new direction in modern psychology, which studies the problem of mental phenomena generation. At the same time, a comparison is made with the transcendentalism of Descartes, in which its limitations and incompleteness are revealed. It is shown that both in transcendental psychology and in quantum mechanics (W. Heisenberg) epistemological problems arise associated with the impossibility of using the language of their classical predecessors. In both sciences, it becomes necessary to apply a new language, a new way of thinking and a new logic of understanding the phenomena under study. All this allows us to conclude that both in transcendental psychology and in quantum mechanics, researchers are dealing with a new ontology of reality that differs from the reality studied in classical physics and in the phenomenology of classical psychology. The article substantiates that the main methodological reason limiting the possibilities of carrying out theoretical studies of deeper layers of reality is the use of the product (physical) approach. The product approach is based on the language used to describe the observed reality. It became necessary to divide reality into observable and unobservable. In the language of metaphysics of modalities, this is translated as «being in possibility» and «being in reality.» One of the “intersection points” of quantum mechanics and transcendental psychology is the category ofpossibility, in which the essence of reality is expressed, which both disciplines compared in this article seek to describe and explain

МЕТАФИЗИЧЕСКОЕ ЕДИНСТВО ТРАНСЦЕНДЕНТАЛЬНОЙ ПСИХОЛОГИИ И КВАНТОВОЙ МЕХАНИКИ. ЧАСТЬ 2

This article is a continuation of the previous one, published in this journal under the same title. The article continues the theoretical consideration of signs of the unity of transcendental psychology (TP) and quantum mechanics (QM) in the vision of Aristotle's metaphysics. In the context of the metaphysical triad necessary-possible-real, the «intersection points» of A. I. Mirakyan’s transcendental psychology and the interpretation of quantum mechanics by A. Yu. Sevalnikov. It is shown that in the both transcendental psychology and quantum mechanics epistemological problems are associated with the impossibility of using the language of their classical predecessors. In both sciences, it becomes necessary to use a new language, a new way of thinking and a new logic of understanding the phenomena under study. All this allows us to conclude that both in transcendental psychology and in quantum mechanics, researchers are dealing with a new ontology of reality that differs from that studied in classical physics and in the phenomenology of classical psychology. It became necessary to divide reality into observable and unobservable. This allows us to say that we are talking about polyontic (or modal) philosophy – different modalities or modes of being, within the framework of which it is necessary to consider the relationship between the necessary, the possible and the real things. Both sciences are the sciences of becoming. If QM is the science of the formation of the observed world, then TP is the science of the generation of phenomena of psychical reality. This is one of the reasons for the unity of their methodological foundations. There is a fairly close similarity in the understanding of the concept of «coexisting opportunities» (or «potential opportunities»). In TP, it coincides with the concept of the coexistence of functionally equal opportunities for reflecting various concomitant properties of objects, and in QM – with the principle of superposition of states of elementary particles. The relative nature of the formation of the phenomenon in the reality of the real follows it. In TP, this is expressed in the realization of one of the coexisting possibilities of reflecting any of the presented properties of the object, and in QM this is expressed as a result of the reduction of the wave function to one of the possible states of a quantum object. The relativity of the formation of a specific phenomenon, determined by the existence of «coexisting possibilities», is realized according to the principle of relativity to the means of observation.

СОСТОЯНИЯ СОЗНАНИЯ, ПРОБЛЕМА НАБЛЮДАТЕЛЯ, ПОЗНАНИЕ (ИЛИ О ЕДИНСТВЕ ТРАНСЦЕНДЕНТАЛЬНОЙ ПСИХОЛОГИИ, ФИЗИКИ И ФИЛОСОФИИ). ЧАСТЬ I

Currently, there is an intensification of integration processes in science as a result of an increasing number of approaches and points of view on the same subject of research, leading to the convergence of sciences, creation of metatheories and interdisciplinary connections, thanks to the efforts of many researchers from different fields of science. In this context, the article attempts to show the unity of transcendental psychology, physics and philosophy in solving epistemological problems. The present article discusses the question of correspondence of the perceived or observed world with the world itself, with the world as it is «in reality». In connection with understanding of this issue, D. Berkeley, N. Bohr, W. Heisenberg, A. Einstein, A. N. Leontiev, A. I. Mirakyan’s views are being discussed. On the basis of the analysis carried out, the following assumption is made: the reason for insolubility of this problem within the framework of opposing philosophical directions is the discrepancy between levels and states of consciousness of representatives of these scientific directions. Dependence of the perception of the world and paradigm shifts on changes in the states of consciousness are shown. In the context of changes in states of consciousness, the issues of transcending and transitions from one reality to another are considered. A comparative analysis with the provisions of virtualistics is carried out. In the second part of the article, the features of external and internal observers and their relation to the process of cognition in the context of states of consciousness are going to be discussed.

Metaphysics and Fundamentals of Transcendental Psychology Approach

The Transcendental Psychology Approach to the study of perception has been developed by A.I. Mirakyan at the Psychological Institute (Moscow, Russia) about 30 years ago. This article considers the results of theoretical and experimental investigations and provides a historical overview of the approach’s development. Started with the investigations of constancy in perception, it went beyond the traditional Product Basis Paradigm (relying on perceptual features for finding perceptual mechanisms) into Philosophical Metaphysics of “nothing” and “something” concepts for revealing the form-generating principles as fundamental axiomatics of the Transcendental Psychology Approach. Several principles were developed and justified: structure-process anisotropy, spatial-temporal discreteness, the formation of anisotropic (particularly, symmetric) relations, the coexistence of alternatives, and some others. Principles are explanatory for the regulations of sensory-perceptual processes and are the direct object of further specification and experimental verification using hypothetical transcendental models of perceptual structures. The theory suggests that the internal mechanisms of these models would not naturally manifest themselves in experiments within the functional range of perception, and to see the phenomena, it is necessary to bring the perceptual system out of its natural functional range. The form-generating processes are named adiaphorous in the sense that they specifically generate new structures and forms, regardless of the characteristics of products used and produced in the processes. In general, it is possible to speak about the class of so-called structurally-generative processes that are specific to the process of transition between the system-generating structures studied by different hierarchically interrelated sciences. The proposed two-staged qualitative model of the perceptual process consists of two substantially different parts: the direct sensory perception and a process of form designation or sensory name assignment. Further investigations of structurally-generative processes seem likely to shed light on the mechanisms of brain function and to contribute strategically to new directions in philosophical psychology and neuroscience.

A Perspective View of Creating a School of Thought for Transcendental Psychology in Armenia

The article shows a difference between the transcendental approach to the study of psychic phenomena from the methodologies dominating contemporary psychology. A possibility is shown in this context of establishing an indigenous school of transcendental psychology in Armenia.

Transcendental Philosophy, The History of Psychology Kant and Freud.

Kant is not generally recognised to be an Aristotelian hylomorphic Philosopher because of his extension of logic into Philosophical Psychology in the form of Transcendental Logic. This extension is a natural articulation of hylomorphic metaphysics. Aristotle’s 4 kinds of change, 3 principles, and 4 “causes” are all transformed into the Kantian system of categories of judgement and also transposed into the faculties of sensibility, understanding, and reason. The principles of noncontradiction and sufficient reason obviously have origins in Aristotelian logic and Metaphysics. Freud claims that he is writing the Psychology that Kant would have written had he written subsequent to the “divorce” between Philosophy and Psychology in 1870 but it is clear that Freud too must be considered a hylomorphic Psychologist. This latter claim must be true if it is the case that Kant can be regarded, a hylomorphic Philosopher. Freud regards Consciousness and psychological residues (rituals) that we find in institutions as vicissitudes of Instinct. Instinct is here of course a philosophical concept possessing an aim, an object, a bodily source and a demand for motor activity. Early vicissitudes of instincts are narcissistically based and give rise the genesis of a strong ego under favourable circumstances. Freudian theory correctly interpreted ought to give rise to ethical theory of the type we find in Kant. This is a requirement for theories that we find in the arena of transcendental psychology.

Theistic Psychology as a Methodological Principle of the Study of Religious Experience

The article investigates the genesis of psychologism as a methodological basis for the study of religious experience. The authors show that the first experience of consistent applying psychologism for the purpose of radical criticism of religion was carried out by D. Hume, who reduced the religious experience to the emotional and mental nature of man. As a result, in the philosophy of Hume, the sphere of religious experiences was completely desacralized and the concepts making up the core of spiritual and religious-ethical life of man, such as "personality", "spiritual substance", "mystical experience" were declared meaningless. In the research of F. Schleiermacher the principle of psychology was used to identify the grounds of religiosity. According to Schleiermacher, the sacred is rooted in the very nature of man in the form of original, undifferentiated "religious feeling." The type of psychologism developed by Schleiermacher is theistic because it comes from the recognition of the ontological nature of the divine spark, which is initially presented in religious experience and is not brought into it by faith, a specific creed or metaphysics. According to Schleiermacher, it is not the higher mental functions and rational consciousness that are responsible for the feeling of belonging to God, but the prethought experience together with the psychosomatic structures that provide it. Thus, theistic psychology finds the primary elements of religiosity, components creating precognitive content experienced by the human sense of the sacred beyond the usual manifestations of religion, namely faith, thinking and behavior. Later, psychologism was criticized by representatives of phenomenology, who argued that mental phenomena can be recorded as a direct evidence beyond self-consciousness. This led to the formation within the phenomenology of religion of a new kind of psychologism – transcendental psychologism, representatives of which consider religious feeling as a unity of transcendental (categorical scheme of "the sacred") and psychological (religious experience as a mental phenomenon). The significance of theistic psychologism as a methodology for the analysis of religious experience lies in the fact that it, firstly, served as the basis for the formation of the phenomenology of religion as the leading direction of the study of religious experience and, secondly, opened the possibility of studying the universal psychosomatic basis of religious feeling. This basis can be distinguished by comparison and comparative analysis of descriptions obtained as a result of conscious self-observation of personal spiritual experience of representatives of different religions and spiritual practices.

Psicología: subjetividad, dispositivo e inmanencia

Filosóficamente el título psicología designa subjetividad, ésta es lo que es en intersubjetividad. Las sociedades tardocapitalistas reducen la subjetividad a dispositivos de captura, que también son capturados en el enlace entre saber y poder. En este contexto, la individuación implica: fuga, resistencia o anarquía, i.e., volver a la inmanencia desde de la psicología mundana —tanto empírica como experimental—, como la psicología fenomenológica —tanto reflexiva como teórica—. En la introducción se presenta el problema; en la Sección I se centra la atención en la geografía de la mente, como fue caracterizada por David Hume; en la Sección II se caracteriza el tránsito del dispositivo al disponer; en la Sección III se centra la atención en el contraste entre inmanencia y trascendencia. La conclusión caracteriza la forma como la interacción entre psicología empírica y psicología trascendental se basa en la individuación.

TRANSCENDENTAL PSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTION AND TRANSCENDENTALISM I. KANT

The article analyses the problem of the adequacy of perception from the standpoint of transcendental psychology. On the basis of the analysis a three-term relationship is derived which determines the process of mental reflection. The revealed correlation turned out to be similar to the corresponding ratio of transcendental cognition according to I. Kant, known as the «Copernican revolution». Further analysis showed that these two relationships are similar in structure and that they describe the solution of various complementary tasks.

Зрительное восприятие симметрии как фактор эстетического переживания

The article deals with the formation of aesthetic experience in connection with the perception of physical symmetry of objects and their images. An overview of modern works on the psychology of aesthetic perception in the context of the problem of the perception of symmetry is presented. The phenomenon of symmetry preference in visual perception is illustrated by arguments in its favor and data on its situationality. The ecological context of symmetry in animals and plants is touched in connection with the phenomenon of fluctuating asymmetry as an undirected deviation in the symmetry of a two-sided structure normally distributed in the population. Mathematical models of symmetry of forms and their multiscale representation are discussed. The analysis of the study of the Zen stone garden perceptual peculiarities from the position of the medial axes’ model is carried out.On the basis of the provisions of the transcendental psychology of perception, a hypothesis is advanced about the meta-sensory origin of the aesthetic sense, based on the process of interrelation of the internal symmetrical mechanisms of visual perception and the cognitive processes of creating figurative representations. The relation to the principle of symmetry in the context of the transcendental psychology of perception is shown.

Transcendental Kantianism, Naturalized Kantianism, and the Bounds of Psychology

Are there sensory states (“perceptions”) that, unlike mere sensory registrations, require an explanatory framework (“psychology”) that goes beyond biology? Based on a reconstruction of Kant’s a priori, transcendental psychology, contemporary Kantians answer this question in the positive but dramatically limit the scope of psychology. In contrast, naturalistically oriented deflationists answer it in the negative, thereby not giving psychology any explanatory role whatsoever. In his recent monumental book Origins of Objectivity, Burge argues against both of these approaches and seeks to develop an intermediate approach between them. This he does by embedding Kantian transcendental psychology in contemporary science of perception, thereby naturalizing the former and considerably broadening the scope of psychology. In this paper I critically examine Burge’s naturalized Kantianism, thereby defending transcendental Kantianism. To this end, I first outline Kantian transcendental psychology of perception, highlighting the features that distinguish it from biology. I then show how Burge naturalizes this psychology by embedding its most fundamental notions in contemporary science of perception. Based on all this, I conclude the paper by arguing for two closely related claims. First, that transformed into empirical psychology, Kantian transcendental psychology loses the features that distinguish it from biology. Second, that genuine perception starts at the high cognitive level for which transcendental psychology accounts and not at the rather low or elementary level on which Burge focuses.

The Bounds of Sense and the Limits of Analysis

By interpreting Kant's central argument in the Critique of Pure Reason as an extended analysis of the concept of self-conscious experience and the conditions for the possession of this concept, Peter Strawson's seminal work, The Bounds of Sense, sought to enlist Kant in his own defense of the possibility of analytical philosophy against Quine's attack upon the dogma of analyticity. A Kantian analysis could be defended, Strawson maintained, without Kant's own doctrines of transcendental idealism and transcendental psychology, the former the doctrine that spatio-temporality is not a real feature of objects as they are in themselves, and the latter the inference that it can only be the form that we impose upon the appearances of objects in our synthesis of our representations of them. I argue that Strawson's central criticism, that Kant is only entitled to infer some degree of regularity in the objects of our experience, follows from his analytical interpretation of Kant; such a premise suffices to explain our mere possession of the concept of the self, but fails to do justice to Kant's own more ambitious approach to self-knowledge. I also argue that Strawson's basically sound criticism of transcendental idealism does not entail his total rejection of transcendental psychology, since even an analysis of the conditions of the possibility of self-consciousness entails certain general claims about our mental abilities insofar as we do have self-consciousness, which claims may be considered to comprise transcendental rather than empirical psychology.