Molyneux’s Problem: Three Centuries of Discussion on the Perception of Forms (International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées Book 147)

Suppose that a congenitally blind person has learned to distinguish and name a sphere and a cube by touch alone. Then imagine that this person suddenly recovers the faculty of sight. Will he be able to distinguish both objects by sight and to say which is the sphere and which the cube? This was the question which the Irish politician and scientist William Molyneux posed in 1688 to John Locke. Molyneux's question has intrigued a wide variety of intellectuals for three centuries. Those who have attempted to solve it include Berkeley, Reid, Leibniz, Voltaire, La Mettrie, Condillac, Diderot, Müller, Helmholtz, William James and Gareth Evans. This book is the first comprehensive survey of the history of the discussion about Molyneux's problem. It will be of interest to historians of both philosophy and psychology. Front Matter....Pages 1-11 Introduction....Pages 13-15 Molyneux’s Problem....Pages 17-23 Philosophical Discussions in the Eighteenth Century....Pages 25-52 The First Experimental Data....Pages 53-86 Empirical Approaches in the Nineteenth Century....Pages 87-112 Modern Approaches....Pages 113-125 Molyneux’s Problem in Retrospect....Pages 127-133 Back Matter....Pages 135-156 1. Introduction -- 2. Molyneux's Problem -- 3. Philosophical Discussions In The Eighteenth Century -- 4. The First Experimental Data -- 5. Empirical Approaches In The Nineteenth Century -- 6. Modern Approaches -- 7. Molyneux's Problem In Retrospect. Marjolein Degenaar ; Translated From The Dutch By Michael J. Collins. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.