Abstract

This paper is concerned with Thomas Reid's account of the role of instinctive exertions in the development of one's conception of power. I consider whether such exertions can shed any light on the matter of how certain sensations can appear to us to possess spatial content. Reid denies that sensations have such content; I argue that the introduction of instinctive exertions into his account might allow Reid to avoid some of the less palatable consequences of denying spatial content to sensations.