The Manifest and the Philosophical Image of Perceptual Knowledge
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Johannes Roessler
Abstract
Explanations of knowledge of mind-independent objects in terms of perception can be used to validate or vindicate claims to knowledge: they provide us with reasons for thinking that we know what objects are like. In this paper I contrast two ways to think about this ‘vindicatory role’ of perception. The majority view in epistemology is that it must be understood by reference to the way perception explains and warrants beliefs. I argue that this is not how perception figures in our ordinary explanatory and dialectical practice. As ordinarily conceived, perception’s role in vindicating a claim to knowledge that p turns on our ability to perceive that p. I suggest that this analysis enables us to adjudicate some entrenched disagreements over the sense, if any, in which perceptual knowledge is ‘based on’ sensory experience. I conclude with a suggestion about how to understand the conflict between the perspective of the commonsense psychology of perceptual knowledge and the perspective of the traditional philosophical project of explaining ‘perceptual warrant’.
Abstract
Explanations of knowledge of mind-independent objects in terms of perception can be used to validate or vindicate claims to knowledge: they provide us with reasons for thinking that we know what objects are like. In this paper I contrast two ways to think about this ‘vindicatory role’ of perception. The majority view in epistemology is that it must be understood by reference to the way perception explains and warrants beliefs. I argue that this is not how perception figures in our ordinary explanatory and dialectical practice. As ordinarily conceived, perception’s role in vindicating a claim to knowledge that p turns on our ability to perceive that p. I suggest that this analysis enables us to adjudicate some entrenched disagreements over the sense, if any, in which perceptual knowledge is ‘based on’ sensory experience. I conclude with a suggestion about how to understand the conflict between the perspective of the commonsense psychology of perceptual knowledge and the perspective of the traditional philosophical project of explaining ‘perceptual warrant’.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Content V
- Editorial IX
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1. Objectivity and Realism
- Perception: Ground of Empirical Objectivity 3
- Objectivity: How is it Possible? 23
- Realism’s Kick 39
- The Good, The Bad, and The Naïve 57
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2. Content and Intentionality
- How to Think About the Representational Content of Visual Experience 77
- Structure, Intentionality and the Given 95
- Brentano on Perception and Illusion 119
- The Problem with J. Searle’s Idea That ‘all Seeing is Seeing-as’ (or What Wittgenstein did not Mean With the Duck-Rabbit) 135
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3. Perception, Cognition and Images
- The Perception/Cognition Divide: One More Time, With Feeling 149
- Why Verbal Understanding is Unlikely to be an Extended Form of Perception 171
- Sound and Image 189
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4. The Cognitive Penetrability of Perception
- Bias-Driven Attention, Cognitive Penetration and Epistemic Downgrading 199
- Pre-Cueing, Early Vision, and Cognitive Penetrability 217
- Predictions do not Entail Cognitive Penetration: “Racial” Biases in Predictive Models of Perception 235
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5. Epistemology of Perception
- Boundless 251
- The Manifest and the Philosophical Image of Perceptual Knowledge 275
- The Co-Presentational Character of Perception 303
- Knowledge Without Observation: Body Image or Body Schema? 323
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6. Perception and the Sciences
- Scheinbewegungen. Wahrnehmung zwischen Wissensgeschichte und Gegenwartskunst 337
- Zur Analogie von Wittgensteins Konzept des Aspektwechsels und der wissenschaftlichen Metapher als Vehikel der Innovation 357
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7. Wittgenstein
- The Structure of Tractatus and the Tractatus Numbering System 377
- Wittgensteins Welt 399
- Index of Names 417
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Content V
- Editorial IX
-
1. Objectivity and Realism
- Perception: Ground of Empirical Objectivity 3
- Objectivity: How is it Possible? 23
- Realism’s Kick 39
- The Good, The Bad, and The Naïve 57
-
2. Content and Intentionality
- How to Think About the Representational Content of Visual Experience 77
- Structure, Intentionality and the Given 95
- Brentano on Perception and Illusion 119
- The Problem with J. Searle’s Idea That ‘all Seeing is Seeing-as’ (or What Wittgenstein did not Mean With the Duck-Rabbit) 135
-
3. Perception, Cognition and Images
- The Perception/Cognition Divide: One More Time, With Feeling 149
- Why Verbal Understanding is Unlikely to be an Extended Form of Perception 171
- Sound and Image 189
-
4. The Cognitive Penetrability of Perception
- Bias-Driven Attention, Cognitive Penetration and Epistemic Downgrading 199
- Pre-Cueing, Early Vision, and Cognitive Penetrability 217
- Predictions do not Entail Cognitive Penetration: “Racial” Biases in Predictive Models of Perception 235
-
5. Epistemology of Perception
- Boundless 251
- The Manifest and the Philosophical Image of Perceptual Knowledge 275
- The Co-Presentational Character of Perception 303
- Knowledge Without Observation: Body Image or Body Schema? 323
-
6. Perception and the Sciences
- Scheinbewegungen. Wahrnehmung zwischen Wissensgeschichte und Gegenwartskunst 337
- Zur Analogie von Wittgensteins Konzept des Aspektwechsels und der wissenschaftlichen Metapher als Vehikel der Innovation 357
-
7. Wittgenstein
- The Structure of Tractatus and the Tractatus Numbering System 377
- Wittgensteins Welt 399
- Index of Names 417
