Background
Ducasse, Curt John was born on July 7, 1881 in Angouleme, France.
Dualistic analytic philosopher
Ducasse, Curt John was born on July 7, 1881 in Angouleme, France.
University of Washington and Harvard University.
He is most notable for his work in philosophy of mind and aesthetics, and his influence can be seen in the work of Roderick Chisholm and Wilfrid Sellars. Ducasse served as the president of the Eastern division of the American Philosophical Association in 1939-1940. He also wrote on parapsychology and joined the American Society for Psychical Research in 1951 and served a term as vice president beginning in 1966.
Participating in the early development of analytic philosophy, Ducasse held causality to be fundamental, rejected sensa in favour of sensing, provided a feeling-centred analysis of aesthetics, proposed that philosophical analyses were semantic hypotheses concerning the meanings to be accorded basic terms, and believed paranormal phenomena to favour some type of mental survival beyond the body. Rejecting Hume’s definition of causality as failing to conform to actual usage, he centred on Mill’s method of difference as both following usage and providing an adequate definition of the term. For Ducasse it was analytic that every event requires a cause, and contradictory that there could be a causeless event. It followed that indeterminism is, likewise, contradictory. Finding mind not to be reducible to matter, he accepted causes and effects as either mental or physical, thus distinguishing four types of causal relations: the physicophysical, physicopsychological. psychophysical, and psychopsychical. The second and third relations feature mind body interaction; the fourth is exemplified by instances of mental telepathy. Arguing against Moore’s sensa, he thought it reasonable to replace sensa with adverbial expressions: sensing bluely in place of blue sensa, for example. In aesthetic experience the auditor senses the feeling objectified in it. He thought of philosophy as a science dealing with values. His reasoning was that every science has 'primitive facts’ on which it rests and which test its hypotheses, and ‘derivative facts’ of less importance which help distinguish it from other enterprises. The goal of each science is to discover the premises from which the primitive facts of the science can be deduced. In the case of philosophy the primitive facts are values and appraisals concerning value; and the method of philosophy is to produce analysans which better reflect the standard appraisals of usage. Non-appraisive terms either fall outside of philosophy or are derivative. Derivative terms in philosophy are not appraisive, but are involved in the analysis of appraisals. ‘Causality’ is derivative in this sense; while ‘reality’ is both primitive and derivative, appraisive in itself and involved in other appraisals. Although not a theist, he found the balance of evidence, normal and paranormal, suggesting, even supporting, but not establishing, survival of the mind beyond the body. Ducasse chaired the committee which organized the Pacific Division of Philosophy, was instrumental in establishing the Journal of Symbolic Logic and its publisher, the Association for Symbolic Logic, serving as its first President. He also assumed leading roles in activities as widely diverse as aesthetics and psychical research. Sources: Reese; Edwards.
Association for Symbolic Logic. American Philosophical Association. American Society for Aesthetics.
Philosophy of Science Association.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
American Society for Psychical Research. American Association of University Professors.
Phi Beta Kappa Society.