SH10 Philosophy of Perception
A philosophical theory of perception should explain the nature of the mental states that occur during perceptual processes, and account for how perception can lead to knowledge or justified belief. This course will look at philosophical theories of perception and perceptual experience such as sense-datum, doxastic, representationalist, causal and disjunctivist theories. A particular topic that will be studied is perceptual representation. For example, we will consider whether experiences have content, and, if so, what the admissible contents are, and whether the content is conceptual or non-conceptual. The focus of the course will be on whether these theories provide a suitable account of phenomenology and epistemology. Modern philosophy of psychology is also informed by contemporary scientific study of the brain and of behaviour therefore this course will introduce students to relevant empirical results that have a bearing on philosophical issues.
Course lecturer: Prof Fiona Macpherson
Semester: 1
Lecture hour: Tuesday and Thursday 2-3
Lecture venue: Caird Room
1st Lecture: Thursday 22nd September
Teaching resources for this course will be made available on the Philosophy Moodle site. Much of the study of perceptual experience starts from the thought that we have to account for illusions and hallucinations. See and hear some illusions.
Aims: To introduce students to one aspect of contemporary analytic philosophy, namely, philosophy of perception.
Objectives:
Students who have completed this course should be able to:1. Discuss critically the major theories of perception and perceptual
experience that have been developed over the last fifty years,
2. Explain different accounts of the nature of those mental states that
occur during perceptual processes, and of how perception might lead to
knowledge or justified belief.
3. Assess whether these theories provide a suitable account of the
phenomenology and epistemology of perception.
4. Critically assess different theories of the content of perceptual
experiences.
These skills will be demonstrated by a written essay and examination.