Common sense and Berkeley's perception by suggestion
International Journal of Philosophical Studies 5 (3):397 – 423 (1997)
| Abstract | Significant attention has been paid to Berkeley's account of perception; however, the interpretations of Berkeley's account of perception by suggestion are either incomplete or mistaken. In this paper I begin by examining a common interpretation of suggestion, the 'Propositional Account'. I argue that the Propositional Account is inadequate and defend an alternative, non-propositional, account. I then address George Pitcher's objection that Berkeley's view of sense perception forces him to adopt a 'non-conciliatory' attitude towards common sense. I argue that Pitcher's charge is no longer plausible once we recognize that Berkeley endorses the non-propositional sense of mediate perception. I close by urging that the non-propositional interpretation of Berkeley's account of mediate perception affords a greater appreciation of Berkeley's attempt to bring a philosophical account of sense perception in line with some key principles of common sense. While Berkeley's account of perception and physical objects permits physical objects to be immediately perceived by some of the senses, they are, most often, mediately perceived. But for Berkeley this is not a challenge to common sense since common sense requires only that we perceive objects by our senses and that they are, more or less, as we perceive them. Mediate perception by suggestion is, for Berkeley, as genuine a form of perception as immediate perception, and both are compatible with Berkeley's understanding of the demands of common sense. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesR. I. Aaron (1958). The Common Sense View of Sense-Perception. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 58:1-14.
Clement W. K. Mundle (1971). Perception: Facts And Theories. London,: Oxford University Press,.
Richard Brook (2005). Berkeley, Bundles, and Immediate Perception. Dialogue 44 (3):493-504.
Jay Newman, Martin A. Bertman & Finngeir Hiorth (1992). Book Reviews. [REVIEW] Philosophia 21 (3-4).
Michael Newman (1990). Book Review. [REVIEW] British Journal of Aesthetics 30 (4).
Goerge Pappas (1982). Berkeley, Perception, and Common Sense. In Colin M. Turbayne (ed.), Berkeley: Critical and Interpretive Essays. University of Minnesota Press.
Colin Murray Turbayne (ed.) (1982). Berkeley: Critical and Interpretive Essays. University of Minnesota Press.
James W. Cornman (1975). Perception, Common Sense And Science. Yale University Press.
Kenneth L. Pearce (2008). The Semantics of Sense Perception in Berkeley. Religious Studies 44 (3):249-268.
Georges Dicker (2006). Berkeley on Immediate Perception: Once More Unto the Breach. Philosophical Quarterly 56 (225):517–535.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads25 ( #49,501 of 548,941 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,511 of 548,941 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
