Philosophical Problems in Sense Perception: Testing the Limits of Aristotelianism

This volume focuses on philosophical problems concerning sense perception in the history of philosophy. It consists of thirteen essays that analyse the philosophical tradition originating in Aristotle's writings. Each essay tackles a particular problem that tests the limits of Aristotle's theory of perception and develops it in new directions. The problems discussed range from simultaneous perception to causality in perception, from the representational nature of sense-objects to the role of conscious attention, and from the physical/mental divide to perception as quasi-rational judgement. The volume gives an equal footing to Greek, Arabic, and Latin philosophical traditions. It makes a substantial contribution not just to the study of the Aristotelian analysis of sense perception, but to its reception in the commentary tradition and beyond. Thus, the papers address developments in Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, Avicenna, John of Jandun, Nicole Oresme, and Sayf al-Din al-Amidi, among others. The result of this is a coherent collection that attacks a well-defined topic from a wide range of perspectives and across philosophical traditions.

Auteur

David Bennett was a Research Associate in Representation and Reality research programme at the University of Gothenburg. He specialises in the philosophical and theological controversies of the 9th-10th century Islamicate world, particularly the early development of Mutazilite thought. He has written on pre-Avicennan accounts of sense perception, veridical dreams, and conceptualization, and he is currently working on a monograph about atoms. Juhana Toivanen is an Academy Research Fellow at the University of Jyväskylä, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Gothenburg. He has published widely on medieval philosophy of mind, including a monograph Perception and the Internal Senses (Brill 2013). Currently he is working, among other things, on medieval conceptions of human sociability.

Contenu

1. David Bennett & Juhana Toivanen: Introduction2. Todd Ganson: Aristotle on Perception as Representation3. Mark Eli Kalderon: [Final title TBA; response to Ganson]4. Attila Hangai: Alexander of Aphrodisias on Simultaneous Perception5. Victor Caston: [Final title TBA; response to Hangai]6. Elisa Coda: Common Sense in Themistius and its Reception in the pseudo-Philoponusand Avicenna7. Jari Kaukua: [Final title TBA; response to Coda]8. Laura Hassan: Sense Perception in Sayf al-Dn al-mid: A Theologian's Encounterwith Avicennan Psychology 9. Jon McGinnis: [Final title TBA; response to Hassan]10. John of Jandun on sense perception and instantaneous change Aurélien Robert11. Sten Ebbesen: [Final title TBA: reply to Robert]12. Christophe Grellard: Attention, Recognition, and Error in Nicole Oresme's Psychology13. José Filipe Silva: Activity, Judgment, and Recognition in Nicole Oresme's Philosophyof Perception (response to Grellard)