The Contents of Visual Experience by Susanna Siegel

The Contents of Visual Experience by Susanna Siegel

What do we see? We are visually conscious of colors and shapes, but are we also visually conscious of complex properties such as being John Malkovich? In this book, Susanna Siegel develops a framework for understanding the contents of visual experience, and argues that these contents involve all sorts of complex properties. Siegel starts by analyzing the notion of the contents of experience, and by arguing that theorists of all stripes should accept that experiences have contents. She then introduces a method for discovering the contents of experience: the method of phenomenal contrast. This method relies only minimally on introspection, and allows rigorous support for claims about experience. She then applies the method to make the case that we are conscious of many kinds of properties, of all sorts of causal properties, and of many other complex properties. She goes on to use the method to help analyze difficult questions about our consciousness of objects and their role in the contents of experience, and to reconceptualize the distinction between perception and sensation. Siegel's results are important for many areas of philosophy, including the philosophy of mind, epistemology, and the philosophy of science. They are also important for the psychology and cognitive neuroscience of vision.

This is a clearly argued book that is well worth careful study* Heather Logue, Mind *
This is an impressive book. It is rich in powerful and thought-provoking arguments, stimulating ideas, astute observations and instructive examples. * Barry Maund, Analysis *
this is a clearly argued book that is well worth careful study. Siegel offers us a way to get a handle on questions about visual content - the method of phenomenal contrast - that is considerably more promising than methods that have been hitherto employed. * Heather Logue, Mind *

Susanna Siegel is Edgar Pierce Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780199931248
ISBN 10	0199931240
Title	The Contents of Visual Experience
Author	Susanna Siegel
Series	Philosophy Of Mind Series
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Oxford University Press Inc
Year published	2012-09-27
Number of pages	234
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.