Philosophy of Perception

Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy

by William Fish

The philosophy of perception investigates the nature of our sensory experiences and their relation to reality. In the second edition of this popular book, William Fish introduces the subject thematically, setting out the major theories of perception together with their motivations and attendant problems. While providing historical background to debates in the field, this comprehensive overview focuses on recent presentations and defenses of the different theories, and looks beyond visual perception to take into account the role of other senses. The second edition organizes the contents into two main the first deals with philosophical theories of perception, and the second covers key topics and issues in perception as they are discussed in philosophy, cognitive science, and psychology. Two completely new chapters have been added – one on color and color vision; and a second on the interaction between sense modalities – and other chapters have been significantly updated to include discussion of topics such as pre-twentieth-century philosophy of perception, phenomenal intentionality, color adverbialism, predictive processing approaches to perception, ecological approaches to perception, and in-depth discussions of the non-visual senses. Additional updates include fuller and easier-to-understand explanations of some important views that were glossed over in the first edition and greater coverage of research from the last 25 years. All chapter summaries, references, and Suggested Reading lists at the end of each chapter have been brought up to date and the volume now includes a more extensive index at the back of the book. Key Features and Includes coverage of topics Key Changes to the Second Edition

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Psychology

276 pages, Paperback

First published March 12, 2010

Reviews

[Chant · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most "introduction to..." books, it leaves one wanting more, which i guess fulfilled it's purpose, which is to get the reader interested more in the subject and let them dive deep in the literature of it.

I however have read some philosophy of perception books prior to this and I felt that the other books (Searle, Noë, etc), were more fruitful than this book, even though those books pushed a certain theory, an example Searle pushing naive realism in his book on philosophy of perception.

Recommended for people that have some grounding in philosophy of mind or just interested people.

[Vinicius Apolinario · Rating 3 out of 5]

É uma ótima introdução a essa área bem recente e relativamente pouco conhecida: a filosofia da percepção. Fish apresenta as principais teorias clássicas ou tradicionais, como o Sense Datum, o adverbialismo, o representacionalismo e o intencionalismo (etc.); em seguida, busca apresentar as relações entre esses tópicos e pesquisas científicas; no fim, abre uma pequena discussão sobre a pouca literatura que se tem na filosofia sobre outras modalidades perceptivas que não a visão, como o olfato, o paladar, o tato e a audição.
A linguagem é razoavelmente clara, embora, em alguns momentos, achei a forma como foi colocado o debate um pouco entediante, principalmente no que diz respeito a teorias intencionalistas. Porém, pode ser só ignorância minha sobre o assunto. Recomendo uma leitura lenta e de acordo com o próprio roteiro do livro, pois Fish faz muitas referências a passagens passadas.
Uma das coisas mais interessantes do livro são as várias referências para leituras posteriores - nesse quesito o autor está de parabéns.
Enfim, recomendo todos os livros dessa série (Routledge Contemporary Introductions to Philosophy). É uma excelente forma de se introduzir em qualquer tema relevante da filosofia contemporânea (seja ciência, ética, estética, política ou até meio ambiente).

[Koopa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half of the book explores various philosophical accounts of perception. It does a good job characterizing them and explaining the contentions between various theories, but I felt like the motivation and explanatory power of the various theories was underexplored.

The second half of the book that delves into the empirical work on perception is very interesting. Chapter 8, "Perception and the Nonvisual Sense Modalities" is a 5 star chapter due to the breadth and depth it achieves covering the neglected nonvisual sense modalities.

Unfortunately, a lot of the sentences in the book are incredibly wordy, to the detriment of the reading experience. Not just wordy, but redundant; there are so many callbacks to something the author just introduced in the paragraph above or the page before - and - interruptions in sentences that distract you rather than clarify what was just said.

I rate it 4 stars for the content involved, but 2 stars for the reading experience.

[Shayan Hamraz · Rating 5 out of 5]

خیلی جامع و کامل بود. ترجمه هم خوب بود.

[Mark]

Never got very past 1st chapter although I would like to read it.

[Ling Xuan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intensely packed!