Philosophy of Perception: A Contemporary Introduction

by Fish; William

• ISBN13: 9780415999120
• ISBN10: 041599912X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-17
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

The philosophy of perception investigates the nature of our sensory experiences and their relation to reality. Raising questions about the conscious character of perceptual experiences, how they enable us to acquire knowledge of the world in which we live, and what exactly it is we are aware of when we hallucinate or dream, the philosophy of perception is a growing area of interest in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of mind.William Fish's Philosophy of Perception introduces the subject thematically, setting out the major theories of perception together with their motivations and attendant problems. While providing historical background to debates in the field, this comprehensive overview focuses on recent presentations and defenses of the different theories, and looks beyond visual perception to take into account the role of other senses.Topics covered include:The Phenomenal PrinciplePerception and HallucinationPerception and ContentSense-Data, Adverbialism and IdealismDisjunctivism and RelationalismIntentionalism and Combined TheoriesThe Nature of ContentVeridicalityPerception and Empirical ScienceNon-Visual PerceptionWith summaries and suggested further reading at the end of each chapter, this is an ideal introduction to the philosophy of perception.

Author Biography

William Fish is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at Massey University. New Zealand.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction: Three key principles	p. 1
Overview	p. 1
Three key principles	p. 3
Conclusion	p. 9
Questions	p. 9
Notes	p. 9
Sense datum theories	p. 11
Overview	p. 11
The Phenomenal Principle and misleading experiences	p. 11
Sense data and the Common Factor Principle	p. 13
The time lag argument	p. 15
Sense datum theory formalized	p. 16
Sense datum theory and the two hats	p. 18
Sense datum theory and the Representational Principle	p. 23
The sensory core theory	p. 23
Percept theory	p. 24
Sensory core theory, percept theory, and the two hats	p. 27
Metaphysical objections to mental objects	p. 29
Questions	p. 30
Notes	p. 30
Further reading	p. 31
Adverbial theories	p. 33
Overview	p. 33
Adverbialism	p. 36
Adverbialism and metaphysics	p. 37
The many property problem	p. 39
The complement objection	p. 43
Adverbialism and the two hats	p. 44
Questions	p. 47
Notes	p. 47
Further reading	p. 48
Belief acquisition theories	p. 51
Overview	p. 51
Perception as the acquisition of beliefs	p. 52
Belief acquisition theory and the two hats	p. 54
Perception without belief acquisition	p. 56
Perception, belief, and our conceptual capacities	p. 59
Acquiring new concepts	p. 61
Blindsight	p. 63
Questions	p. 63
Notes	p. 63
Further reading	p. 64
Intentional theories	p. 65
Overview	p. 65
Varieties of intentionalism	p. 66
Theories of perceptual content	p. 71
How do experiences get their contents?	p. 77
Representationalism and the two hats	p. 78
Questions	p. 82
Notes	p. 82
Further reading	p. 85
Disjunctive theories	p. 87
Overview	p. 87
The causal objection	p. 89
Epistemological disjunctivism	p. 91
Disjunctivism about metaphysics	p. 91
Disjunctivism about content	p. 92
Disjunctivism about phenomenology	p. 94
Naive realism	p. 96
Disjunctive theories of hallucination	p. 98
Disjunctivism and illusion	p. 104
Disjunctivism and the two hats	p. 106
Questions	p. 108
Notes	p. 109
Further reading	p. 110
Perception and causation	p. 113
Overview	p. 113
The causal theory of perception	p. 118
Questions	p. 121
Notes	p. 121
Further reading	p. 123
Perception and the sciences of the mind	p. 125
Overview	p. 125
Theoretical paradigms and their underlying assumptions	p. 126
Important phenomena	p. 128
Perception, cognition, and the phenomenal	p. 134
Color vision and color realism	p. 140
Questions	p. 145
Notes	p. 145
Further reading	p. 146
Perception and other sense modalities	p. 149
Overview	p. 149
Individuating the senses	p. 149
Touch, hearing, taste, and smell	p. 157
How distinct are the senses?	p. 161
Questions	p. 162
Note	p. 163
Further reading	p. 163
References	p. 165
Index	p. 175
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