Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Kantian non-conceptualism

  • Published:
Philosophical Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There are perceptual states whose representational content cannot even in principle be conceptual. If that claim is true, then at least some perceptual states have content whose semantic structure and psychological function are essentially distinct from the structure and function of conceptual content. Furthermore the intrinsically “orientable” spatial character of essentially non-conceptual content entails not only that all perceptual states contain non-conceptual content in this essentially distinct sense, but also that consciousness goes all the way down into so-called unconscious or subpersonal mental states. Both my argument for the existence of essentially non-conceptual content and my theory of its structure and function have a Kantian provenance.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Kant (1992b, p. 366, Ak 2: 378–379).

  2. Evans (1982, p. 150).

  3. See, e.g., Bermúdez (2003a); Evans (1982, esp. chs. 4–6); and Gunther (2003a).

  4. See, e.g., McDowell (1994); Brewer (1999); and Sedivy (1996).

  5. All of these arguments are covered in Gunther (2003a).

  6. See also Hanna (1993).

  7. Speaks (2005).

  8. See Gunther (2003b, p. 1).

  9. Hanna (2005).

  10. Hanna (2006a).

  11. Bermúdez (2003a, p. 1).

  12. See, e.g., Evans (1982, p. 229); Peacocke (2001); and Peacocke (1998).

  13. See, e.g., McDowell (1994, pp. 56–60, and 170–173). The Demonstrative Strategy is also endorsed by Brewer in his (1999) and by Sedivy in her (1996).

  14. Evans (1982, pp. 44 and 74).

  15. Evans (1982, pp. 100–105).

  16. See Kelly (2001a, b).

  17. See Chuard (2006).

  18. Speaks (2005, p. 360).

  19. Tye (2006, pp. 507–508).

  20. Tye (2006, p. 525).

  21. Speaks, “Is There a Problem about Non-conceptual Content?,” p. 360.

  22. See, e.g., Campbell (2002, ch. 4).

  23. See, e.g., Bermúdez (2003a, Section 6); Fodor (1998); Peacocke (1992); and Prinz (2002).

  24. Many thanks to Jane Heal for suggesting to me this informal “over-the-telephone test” for conceptuality.

  25. See also Bermúdez (2003a). Like Bermúdez, I hold that there are non-linguistic concepts and thoughts; but unlike Bermúdez, who is a relativist non-conceptualist, I do not identify non-conceptual content with the content of mental states not involving concept-possession.

  26. See also Carruthers (1998). Like Carruthers, I hold that there is a substantive connection between conceptual thought and language; but unlike Carruthers, who is a higher-order thought theorist about consciousness, I do not think that the substantive connection between conceptual thought and language inherently constrains the nature of consciousness, which has a non-conceptual basis in sensorimotor subjectivity.

  27. See Hanna (2006a, chs. 2–3).

  28. See, e.g., Stalnaker (1998).

  29. This, e.g., is Speaks’s own view of the nature of conceptual content.

  30. See, e.g., Buroker (1981); and Van Cleve and Frederick (1991).

  31. Kant (1992b, p. 370, Ak 2: 382).

  32. See Hanna (2001, ch. 4).

  33. See Kant (1992b, p. 371, Ak 2: 383); and Nerlich (1995).

  34. One can also use the possibility of incongruent counterparts as a special kind of phenomenal inversion in order to argue for failures of materialist supervenience. See Lee (2006).

  35. See Kant (1992b). See also Hanna (2000).

  36. See Kant (1992c).

  37. See Kant (1977, §13, pp. 29–30, Ak 4: 285–286). See also Hanna (2006b, ch. 6).

  38. See Kant (1991).

  39. Kelly (2001a, p. 398).

  40. See Perry (1979). See also Hanna (1993).

  41. See Strawson (1959).

  42. See, e.g., Prigogine (1980); and Savitt (1995).

  43. See Cussins (2003, p. 147); Gallagher (2005, esp. chs. 1–6); and Noë (2004).

  44. See Hanna (2005, Sections IV and V).

  45. See, e.g., Kihlstrom (1987).

  46. See, e.g., Jackendoff (1987).

  47. See Bermúdez (2003c). Bermúdez holds that subpersonal states have non-conceptual content, but would not agree that they are also conscious.

  48. See Thompson (2005).

  49. Nagel (1979, pp. 166–167).

  50. See, e.g., Weiskrantz (1986).

  51. Filling-in is the puzzling fact that our visual field presents itself as rich and continuous even though we have blind spots on our retinas. Various solutions to the puzzle have been offered. See, e.g., Pessoa et al. (1998). The Kantian non-conceptualist solution is that filling-in is essentially the reverse of blindsight: whereas in blindsight the subject has sensorimotor-subjective vision without self-conscious vision (=sensorimotor-subjective vision via the simpler processing mechanisms of the eyes, together with self-conscious blindness via the more sophisticated processing mechanisms of the downstream brain-body system), by contrast in filling-in subjects have self-conscious vision without sensorimotor-subjective vision (=self-conscious vision via the more sophisticated processing mechanisms of the downstream brain-body system, together with sensorimotor-subjective blindness via the simpler processing mechanisms of the eyes).

  52. See, e.g., Mele (1997); and Hanna and Maiese (forthcoming).

  53. See Hanna (2006a).

  54. Speaks (2005, pp. 389–390).

  55. See Kant, I., Critique of pure reason, trans. P. Guyer and A. Wood (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997), p. 256, B151.

  56. See Kant (1997, pp. 256–257, B151–152).

  57. See Hanna (2006b, chs. 1–2).

References

  • Bermúdez, J. (2003a). Nonconceptual mental content. In E. Zalta (Ed.), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL = http://www.plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2003/entries/content-nonconceptual/

  • Bermúdez, J. (2003b). Thinking without words. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bermúdez, J. (2003c). Nonconceptual Content: From perceptual experience to subpersonal computational States. In Y. Gunther (Ed.), Essays on nonconceptual content (pp. 184–216). Cambridge: MIT Press.

  • Brewer, B. (1999). Perception and reason. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buroker, J. V. (1981). Space and incongruence: The origins of Kant’s idealism. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campbell, J. (2002). Reference and consciousness. Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carruthers, P. (1998). Language, thought, and consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .

    Google Scholar 

  • Chuard, P. (2006). Demonstrative concepts without re-identification. Philosophical Studies, 130, 153–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cussins, A. (2003). Content, conceptual content, and nonconceptual content. In Y. Gunther (Ed.), Essays on nonconceptual content (pp. 133–163). Cambridge: MIT Press.

  • Evans, G. (1982). Varieties of reference. Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fodor, J. (1998). Concepts. Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher, S. (2005). How the body shapes the mind. Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunther, Y. (Ed.). (2003a). Essays on nonconceptual content. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gunther, Y. (2003b). Introduction. In Y. Gunther (Ed.), Essays on nonconceptual content (pp. 1–19). Cambridge: MIT Press.

  • Hanna, R. (1993). Direct reference, direct perception, and the cognitive theory of demonstratives. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 74, 96–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, R. (2000). The inner and the outer: Kant’s ‘refutation’ reconstructed. Ratio, 13, 146–174.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, R. (2001). Kant and the foundations of analytic philosophy. Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, R. (2005). Kant and nonconceptual content. European Journal of Philosophy, 13, 247–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, R. (2006a). Rationality and logic. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, R. (2006b). Kant, science, and human nature. Oxford: Clarendon/ Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hanna, R. and Maiese, M. (forthcoming). Embodied minds in action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  • Jackendoff, J. (1987). Consciousness and the computational mind. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kant, I. (1977). Prolegomena to any future metaphysics (J. Ellington, Trans.). Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.

  • Kant, I. (1991). What is orientation in thinking? In H. Reiss (Ed.), Kant: Political writings (pp. 237–249. Ak 8: 131–147) (H. B. Nisbet, Trans.), 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Kant, I. (1992a). Theoretical philosophy: 1755–1770 (D. Walford & R. Meerbote, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Kant, I. (1992b). Concerning the ultimate ground of the differentiation of directions in space. In I. Kant, Theoretical philosophy: 1755–1770 (pp. 365–372, Ak 2: 375–383) (D. Walford & R. Meerbote, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Kant, I. (1992c) On the form and principles of the sensible and intelligible world (Inaugural Dissertation). Kant, Theoretical philosophy: 1755–1770 (pp. 373–416, Ak 2: 385–419) (D. Walford & R. Meerbote, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Kelly, S. (2001a). Demonstrative concepts and experience. Philosophical Review, 110, 397–420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, S. (2001b). The nonconceptual content of perceptual experience: situation dependence and fineness of grain. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 62, 601–608.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kihlstrom, J. (1987). The cognitive unconscious. Science, 237, 1445–1452.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, G. (2006). The experience of right and left. In T. Gendler & J. Hawthorne (Eds.), Perceptual experience (pp. 291–315). Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowell, J. (1994). Mind and world. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mele A. (Ed.). (1997). The philosophy of action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagel, T. (1979). What is it like to be a bat?. In T. Nagel, Mortal Questions (pp. 165–180). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Nerlich, G. (1995). On the one hand: Reflections on enantiomorphy. Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 73, 432–443.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noë, A. (2004). Action in perception. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peacocke, C. (1992). A study of concepts. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peacocke, C. (1998). Nonconceptual content defended. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 58, 381–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peacocke, C. (2001). Does perception have a nonconceptual content? Journal of Philosophy, 98, 239–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, J. (1979). The problem of the essential indexical. Noûs, 13, 3–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pessoa, L., Thompson, E., & Noë, A. (1998). Finding out about filling in: A guide to perceptual completion for visual science and the philosophy of perception. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 723–748.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prigogine, I. (1980). Being and becoming: Time and complexity in the physical sciences. New York: W.H. Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prinz, J. (2002). Furnishing the mind: Concepts and their perceptual basis. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savitt, S. (Ed.). (1995). Time’s arrows today. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sedivy, S. (1996). Must conceptually informed perceptual experience involve non-conceptual content? Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 26, 413–431.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speaks, J. (2005). Is there a problem about nonconceptual content? Philosophical Review, 114, 359–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stalnaker, R. (1998) What might nonconceptual content be? In E. Villanueva (Ed.), Concepts (pp. 339–352). Atascadero, CA: Ridgeview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strawson, P. F. (1959). Individuals. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, E. (2005). Sensorimotor subjectivity and the enactive approach to experience. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, 4, 407–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tye, M. (2006). Nonconceptual content, richness, and fineness of grain. In T. Gendler & J. Hawthorne (Eds.), Perceptual experience (pp. 504–530). Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Cleve, J., & Frederick, R. (Eds.). (1991). The philosophy of right and left: Incongruent counterparts and the nature of space. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiskrantz, L. (1986). Blindsight. Oxford: Clarendon/Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Monima Chadha, Philippe Chuard, Andy Clark, James Genone, Jeff Speaks, and also to audiences at the APA Pacific Division Meetings in San Francisco, in April 07, the University of Edinburgh, Monash University (Australia), University of Oxford, and the University of Tampere (Finland) for conversations and critical comments on earlier versions of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philosophy, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Robert Hanna

Authors
  1. Robert Hanna
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Hanna.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hanna, R. Kantian non-conceptualism. Philos Stud 137, 41–64 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-007-9166-0

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-007-9166-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation