The Eye and the Mind : Reflections on Perception and the Problem of Knowledge

C. Landesman

ISBN 10: 0792325869 / ISBN 13: 9780792325864

Edité par Springer, Springer, 1993

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Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - 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.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9780792325864

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: The Eye and the Mind : Reflections on Perception and the Problem of Knowledge
• Éditeur: Springer, Springer
• Date de parution: 1993
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0792325869
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780792325864
• Reliure: Buch
• État de l'article: Neu
• Dimensions: 241 L x 160 H x 15 P (en millimètres) 241 millimètres de largeur par 160 millimètres de hauteur par 15 millimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 430 grammes

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Synopsis

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.