In my thesis I criticise the most important Causal Theories that have been advanced, and put forward a Causal Theory of my own. In Chapter 1 I describe some of the theories that have been advanced, or criticised, as Causal Theories, and point out that they fall into several distinct types. In Chapter 2 I criticise the sort of Causal Theory that includes the thesis that our knowledge of the physical world is in some sense inferential. In Chapter 3 I argue against the sort of Causal Theory which involves the supposition that sense-data or their like are involved in perception. In Chapter 4 I argue in favour of the sort of Causal Theory which contains the view that the perception of a physical object is a matter of the perceiver's being caused by it to have a sense-experience. In Chapter 5 I argue that the experiential element in perception is not a matter of the perceiver's acquiring or tending to acquire a belief. In Chapter 6 I inquire whether perception must involve the having of a sense-experience which in some sense represents the perceived object, and specify the conditions which the perceptual experience must fulfil. I introduce the expression "have a good representation" in terms of one sense of "seem" and its cognates. In Chapter 7 I conclude that representation enters into perception insofar as the perceived object must bring about the perceiver's sense-experience in a way which I describe as "productive of good representations". I advance my own Causal Theory of Perception, to which this contention is central. In Chapter 8 I support my theory by considering the perception of certain sorts of physical objects that may appear problematical and have been unduly neglected by philosophers in the past.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:704218 |
| Date | January 1972 |
| Creators | Pickering, F. R. |
| Publisher | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://repository.royalholloway.ac.uk/items/5c611f78-fdee-4b25-9d4a-2b691a4ea94b/1/ |
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