Philosophy, Science, and Sense Perception
Title | Philosophy, Science, and Sense Perception PDF eBook |
Author | Maurice Mandelbaum |
Publisher | JHU Press |
Pages | 258 |
Release | 2019-12-01 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 142143170X |
Originally published in 1964. In four essays, Professor Mandelbaum challenges some of the most common assumptions of contemporary epistemology. Through historical analyses and critical argument, he attempts to show that one cannot successfully sever the connections between philosophic and scientific accounts of sense perception. While each essay is independent of the others, and the argument of each must therefore be judged on its own merits, one theme is common to all: that critical realism, as Mandelbaum calls it, is a viable epistemological position, even though some schools of thought hold it in low esteem.
Philosophy, Science and Sense-perception
Title | Philosophy, Science and Sense-perception PDF eBook |
Author | Maurice H Mandelbaum |
Publisher | |
Pages | |
Release | 1962 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
Philosophy, Science and Sense Perception
Title | Philosophy, Science and Sense Perception PDF eBook |
Author | Maurice Mandelbaum |
Publisher | |
Pages | 262 |
Release | 1964 |
Genre | |
ISBN |
The Reliability of Sense Perception
Title | The Reliability of Sense Perception PDF eBook |
Author | William P. Alston |
Publisher | Cornell University Press |
Pages | 164 |
Release | 2018-07-05 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 1501720546 |
Why suppose that sense perception is an accurate source of information about the physical environment? More generally, is it possible to demonstrate that our basic ways of forming beliefs are reliable? In this book, a leading analytic philosopher confronts this classic problem through detailed investigation of sense perception, the source of beliefs in which we place the most confidence. Carefully assessing the available arguments, William P. Alston concludes that it is not possible to show in any noncircular way that sense perception is a reliable source of beliefs. Alston thoroughly examines the main arguments that have been advanced for the reliability of sense perception, including arguments from the various kinds of success we achieve by relying on the sense perception, arguments that some features of our sense experience are best explained by supposing that it is an accurate guide, and arguments that there is something conceptually incoherent about the idea that sense perception is not reliable. He concludes that all of these arguments that are not disqualified in other ways are epistemically circular, for they use premises based upon the very source in question. Alston then suggest that the most appropriate response to the impossibility of showing that our basic sources of beliefs are reliable is an appeal to the practical rationality of engaging in certain socially established belief-forming practices. The Reliability of Sense Perception will be welcome by epistemologists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers of science.
Phenomenal Qualities
Title | Phenomenal Qualities PDF eBook |
Author | Paul Coates |
Publisher | Oxford University Press, USA |
Pages | 448 |
Release | 2015 |
Genre | Medical |
ISBN | 0198712715 |
A team of distinguished philosophers and psychologists explore the nature of phenomenal qualities, the qualities of conscious experiences, and the ways in which they fit in with our understanding of mind and reality. This volume offers an indispensable resource for anyone wishing to understand the nature of conscious experience.
The Eye and the Mind
Title | The Eye and the Mind PDF eBook |
Author | C. Landesman |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 164 |
Release | 2013-06-29 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9401733171 |
This book is a discussion of some of the major philosophical problems centering around the topic of sense perception and the foundations of human knowledge. It begins with a characterization of our common sense understanding of the role of the senses in the acquisition of belief, and it argues that scientific accounts of the processes of perception undermine salient parts of this understanding. The naive point of view of direct realism cannot be sustained in the light of a scientifically instructed understanding of perception. This critique of direct realism points to the correctness of the representative theory of perception characteristic of such early modem philosophers as Descartes and Locke, and it also endorses the subjective tum that they defended. It argues that these positions do not require introducing sense data into the picture, and thus it avoids the intractable problems that the sense datum philosophy introduces. In addition, several versions of cognitive accounts of sense perception are criticized with the result that it is unnecessary to characterize sensory processes in intentional terms. The book then turns to a leading question introduced into modem philosophy by Descartes and Locke, the question of the accuracy of the information delivered by the senses to our faculty of belief. In particular, how accurate are our representations of the secondary qualities? The case of color is considered in detail.
Seeing, Doing, and Knowing
Title | Seeing, Doing, and Knowing PDF eBook |
Author | Mohan Matthen |
Publisher | Clarendon Press |
Pages | 385 |
Release | 2005 |
Genre | Medical |
ISBN | 0199268509 |
"This book is a philosophical treatment of sense perception and examines the work of cognitive neuroscientists. Its central theme is the task-oriented specialization of sensory systems across the biological domain. This text includes theories of perceptual similarity, content, and realism"--Provided by publisher.