Abstract
Case studies in the psychophysics, modeling and localization of human vision are presented as an example of “hands-on” philosophy of the cognitive sciences. These studies also yield important results for familiar problems in philosophy of mind: the explanatory gap surrounding phenomenological feels is not closed by the kinds of investigations surveyed. However, the science is able to explain some sorts of phenomenological facts, such as why the human color space takes the form of the Munsell color solid, or why there is a phenomenologically-pure yellow but not a phenomenologically-pure orange.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baker, Lynne Rudder: 1995, Explaining Attitudes, Cambridge University Press
Bechtel, William and Robert C. Richardson: 1993, Discovering Complexity: Deconmposition and Localization as Strategies in Scientific Research, Princeton University Press
Chalmers, David: 1996, The Conscious Mind, Oxford University Press
Chalmers, D. J. and Jackson, F.: 2001. ‘Conceptual analysis and reductive explanation’, Philosophical Review
Austen Clark (1993) Sensory Qualities Clarendon Press Oxford
Cummins, Robert: 1983, The Nature of Psyhcological Explanation, MIT Press
Lindley Darden Maull Nancy (1977) ArticleTitleInterfield Theories Philosophy of Science 44 43–64 Occurrence Handle10.1086/288723
Clark Glymour (1999) ArticleTitleA mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste–Critical Notice: Jaegwon Kim, “Mind in a Physical World” Philosophy of Science 66 IssueID3 455–471 Occurrence Handle10.1086/392698
R. L. Gregory (1978) Eye And Brain: The Psychology of Seeing EditionNumber3 McGraw Hill/World University Library New York
Stephen Grossberg (1987) The Adaptive Brain Amsterdam North-Holland
Helmholtz, Hermann von: 1867, Handbuch der Physiologischen Optik, 1st ed., Voss, Leipzig
Hering, E: 1878, Zur Lehre vom Lichtsinn, Gerald u. Söhne, Wien
Steven Horst (1996) Symbols, Computation and Intentionality: A Critique of the Computational Theory of Mind University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles
Horst, Steven: Forthcoming-b, ‘Beyond Reduction: What Can Philosophy of Mind Learn from Post-Reductionist Philosophy of Science?’
Horst, Steven: Forthcoming-b, Beyond Reduction
L. M. Hurvich (1981) Color Vision Sinauer Associates Inc. Sunderland, MA
F. Jackson (1982) ArticleTitleEpiphenomenal qualia Philosophical Quarterly 32 27–136
John Jacobson (1997) The Mysteries of Consciousness and the Foundations of the Broad Approach Wesleyan University Middletown CT
Jaegwon Kim (1998) Mind in Physical World: An Essay on the Mind-Body Problem and Mental Causation MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts
Edwin Land (1959) ArticleTitleExperiments in Colour Vision Scientific American 5 84 Occurrence Handle10.1038/scientificamerican0559-84
J. Levine (1983) ArticleTitleMaterialism and qualia: The Explanatory Gap Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 64 354–361
Livingstone, Segregation of Color, Form, Motion and Depth: Anatomy, Philosophy and Perception, Science 240, 740–750
McGinn Colin: 1991, The Problem of Consciousness: Essays Toward a Resolution Blackwell.
Thomas Nagel (1974) ArticleTitleWhat is it like to be a bat? Philosophical Review 4 435–450 Occurrence Handle10.2307/2183914
Oliver Sacks (1985) The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales Summit Books New York
Simon, Herbert: 1977, Models of Discovery, D. Reidel, Dordrecht.
Lorthar Spillman Werner S. John (Eds) (1990) Visual Perception: The Neurophysiological Foundations Academic Press San Diego, CA
Ungerleider L. G. and Mishkin, M.: 1982, ‘Two Cortical Visual Systems’, in Analysis of Visual Behavior, Ingle, D.J.
Young, Thomas: 1801/1961, ‘On the Theory of Light and Colours’, Reprinted in R.C. Teevan and R.C. Binney (eds.), Colour Vision, Van Nostrand (1961).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Horst, S. Modeling, Localization and the Explanation of Phenomenal Properties: Philosophy and the Cognitive sciences at the beginning of the Millennium. Synthese 147, 477–513 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-005-8365-5
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-005-8365-5