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Perceptual reasons

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McGrath_2015_PS_Perceptual_AM.pdf (261.7Kb)
Date
04/2016
Author
Comesana, Juan
McGrath, Matthew
Keywords
Perceptual reasons
Phenomenalism
Factualism
Propositionalism
B Philosophy (General)
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Abstract
The two main theories of perceptual reasons in contemporary epistemology can be called Phenomenalism and Factualism. According to Phenomenalism, perceptual reasons are facts about experiences conceived of as phenomenal states, i.e., states individuated by phenomenal character, by what it’s like to be in them. According to Factualism, perceptual reasons are instead facts about the external objects perceived. The main problem with Factualism is that it struggles with bad cases: cases where perceived objects are not what they appear (illusions, broadly speaking) or where there is no perceived object at all (hallucinations). The main problem with Phenomenalism is that it struggles with good cases: cases where everything is perfectly normal and the external object is correctly perceived, so that one’s perceptual beliefs are knowledge. In this paper we show that there is a theory of perceptual reasons that avoids the problems for Factualism and Phenomenalism. We call this view Propositionalism. We use ‘proposition’ broadly to mean the entities that are contents of beliefs and other doxastic attitudes. The key to finding a middle ground between Phenomenalism and Factualism, we claim, is to allow our reasons to be false in bad cases. Despite being false, they are about the external world, not our phenomenal states.
Citation
Comesana , J & McGrath , M 2016 , ' Perceptual reasons ' , Philosophical Studies , vol. 173 , no. 4 , pp. 991-1006 . https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-015-0542-x
Publication
Philosophical Studies
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-015-0542-x
ISSN
0031-8116
Type
Journal article
Rights
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015. This work is made available online in accordance with the publisher’s policies. This is the author created, accepted version manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11098-015-0542-x
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/9365

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