Mentalistic Metatheory and Methodology

For need a term, and want of a better term, I have labeled this metatheory “mentalism” to suggest a focus on that aspect of mental activity given to us in any waking moment—consciousness. Mentalism proposes an analysis of mental episodes that can reveal lawfulness among those conscious states. Consciousness may symbolically represent a present out there in perception, a past in forms of remembrance, and a future in modes that vary from hopes and fears to plans and intentions. Consciousness may even symbolically represent past or future conscious states and mental episodes, as well as an abstracted sense of self, all in higher-order awareness. The metatheory is summarized here and has been elaborated variously in Dulany (1991, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2009).