Abstract

Sensory modalities are different ways we have to perceive the world. Regarding to the question of what sensory modalities are, and how they differ from each other, there have been proposed, at least, four criteria intended to give a characterization of each of these: the representational criterion, the proximal-stimulus criterion, the sense-organ criterion and the phenomenal character criterion. I want to argue that, if it is possible for a theory of perception that explains to explain the characterization of sensory modalities, such theory must consider and give the same importance to the four criteria, taken together. Each criterion taken individually would be necessary but not sufficient to characterize a sensorial modality. The way we perceive and obtain information about the world should be explained under a model in which causal relations are considered, and are only understood in light of these four criteria. This will be based on John Heil’s argument presented in “The Senses, excerpt from Perception and Cognition”, where this philosopher argues that the proximal criterion is best suited to characterize a sensorial modality.