The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience by David Papineau

The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience by David Papineau

What are the materials of conscious perceptual experience? What is going on when we are consciously aware of a visual scene, or hear sounds, or otherwise enjoy sensory experience? In this book David Papineau exposes the flaws in contemporary answers to this central philosophical question and defends a new alternative. Contemporary theories of perceptual experience all hold that conscious experiences reach out into the world beyond the mind. According to naïve realism, experiences literally incorporate perceived facts, while representationalism holds that experiences contain ordinary properties of the kind possessed by physical objects. These ideas might seem attractive at first sight, however Papineau shows that they do not stand up to examination. Instead, he argues for a purely qualitative account of sensory experience. Conscious sensory experiences are intrinsic states with no essential connection to external circumstances or represented properties. This might run counter to initial intuition, yet Papineau develops this qualitative theory in detail and illustrates how it can accommodate the rich structure of sensory experience. Papineau's qualitative account has respectable antecedents in the history of philosophy. By placing the qualitative theory on a firm footing, he shows that those curious about experience need not be restricted to the options in contemporary philosophical discourse.

Papineau's book is effective precisely because it does not take on more than it can chewIt very well may signal the death knell for representationalism or, at the very least, force representationalists to seriously rethink their commitments. * Ekin Erkan, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences *

David Papineau is Professor of Philosophy at King's College London. He has previously worked at the University of Reading, Macquarie University, Birkbeck College, Cambridge University, and the City University of New York. He has served as president of the Aristotelian Society, the Mind Association, and the British Society for the Philosophy of Science.

SKU	Nicht verfügbar
ISBN 13	9780198862390
ISBN 10	0198862393
Titel	The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience
Autor	David Papineau
Buchzustand	Nicht verfügbar
Verlag	Oxford University Press
Erscheinungsjahr	2021-03-18
Seitenanzahl	176
Hinweis auf dem Einband	Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden.