In Defence of Direct Realism

Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 73 (2):411-424 (2007)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In her careful consideration of my book, The Problem of Perception (henceforth, PP), Susanna Siegel highlights what she takes to be a number of shortcomings in the work. First, she suggests that a sense‐datum theorist has two options–what she calls the “complex sense‐data option” and the “two‐factor option”–that survive the argument of my book unscathed. I consider these two options in the first two sections of this reply. Secondly, she criticizes my suggestion that there are three and only three basic and independent sources of perceptual consciousness: an issue I take up in my third section. Thirdly, she expresses reservations about my response to the argument from hallucination. In particular, she argues that the phenomenological considerations on which I put so much weight cannot settle the fundamental issue here. I address this criticism in the fourth section of this reply. Finally, she spends a certain amount of time discussing the notion of a “veridicality‐rele‐vant property”, a topic to which I devote the concluding section of this reply.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 91,592

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

How Far Can Sensorimotor Direct Realism Go?M. Mossio - 2016 - Constructivist Foundations 11 (2):287-289.
Who is “We”? Some Observations on Sensorimotor Direct Realism.J. Pickering - 2016 - Constructivist Foundations 11 (2):279-280.
Veridical Hallucination.Tzu-Ying Lu - 2002 - Philosophy and Culture 29 (11):1040-1050.
Skepticism and the Veil of Perception.Michael Huemer (ed.) - 2001 - Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
The obscure act of perception.Jeffrey Dunn - 2008 - Philosophical Studies 139 (3):367-393.
The problem with Reid's direct realism.Todd Buras - 2002 - Philosophical Quarterly 52 (209):457-477.
An indirect defense of direct realism.Ryan Hickerson - 2004 - Journal of Mind and Behavior 25 (1):1-6.
In defence of direct realism.A. D. Smith - 2006 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 73 (2):411-424.
Arguments against direct realism and how to counter them.Pierre le Morvan - 2004 - American Philosophical Quarterly 41 (3):221-234.

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-02-16

Downloads
7 (#1,379,768)

6 months
5 (#627,481)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Alyscia Smith
University of British Columbia

Citations of this work

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references