Perception, Realism, and the Problem of Reference

The chapters in the book address the problem of reference as it relates to perception and to debates about realism.

Athanassios Raftopoulos (Edited by), Peter Machamer (Edited by)

9781107414648, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 6 March 2014

300 pages, 5 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.4 kg

One of the perennial themes in philosophy is the problem of our access to the world around us; do our perceptual systems bring us into contact with the world as it is or does perception depend upon our individual conceptual frameworks? This volume of new essays examines reference as it relates to perception, action and realism, and the questions which arise if there is no neutral perspective or independent way to know the world. The essays discuss the nature of referring, concentrating on the way perceptual reference links us with the observable world, and go on to examine the implications of theories of perceptual reference for realism and the way in which scientific theories refer and thus connect us with the world. They will be of interest to a wide range of readers in philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophy of psychology, cognitive science and action theory.

1. Reference, perception, and realism Athanassios Raftopoulos and Peter Machamer
2. Towards an (improved) interdisciplinary investigation of demonstrative reference Amanda Brovold and Rick Grush
3. Visual demonstratives Mohan Matthen
4. Losing grip on the world: from illusion to sense-data Derek Brown
5. Perceiving the intended model John Campbell
6. Individuation, reference, and sortal terms Jonathan Lowe
7. Action, perception, and reference Peter Machamer and Lisa Osbeck
8. Personal and semantic reference Gerald Vision
9. Reference from a behaviorist point of view Don Howard
10. Causal-descriptivism and the reference of theoretical terms Stathis Psillos
11. Scientific representation, denotation, and explanatory power Demetris Portides
12. Referring to localized cognitive operations in parts of dynamically active brains William Bechtel.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of science [PDA], Cognitivism, cognitive theory [JMAQ], Philosophy [HP]