Abstract
What makes a veil of perception? Is it merely would-be objects of perceptual awareness, extraneous to the ‘environmental realities’ of which we judge? Or is it merely the presence of something extraneous along the route from perceptual awareness to awareness that our environment is thus and so? In his Mark Sacks lecture John McDowell seems to suppose something like the first answer. This essay argues for the second, thus that he himself imposes such a veil.
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Notes
In writing this I have benefited greatly from discussion with my student, Martijn Wallage, and with Mark Kalderon and David Macarthur. My understanding of Frege has also benefited greatly from discussion with participants in seminars I gave on his work at the University of Porto in 2012 and the University of Sydney in 2013.
References
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Travis C (forthcoming) What are words for? (Word meaning conference, Cumberland Lodge, April 2014)
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Travis, C. Deliverances (Indirection). Topoi 36, 229–246 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-015-9357-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-015-9357-9