Perception and Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)

How does perception give us access to external reality? This book critically engages with John McDowell’s conceptualist answer to this question, by offering a new exploration of his views on perception and reality in relation to those of Immanuel Kant and Edmund Husserl. In six chapters, the book examines these thinkers’ respective theories of perception, lucidly describing how they fit within their larger philosophical views on mind and reality. It thereby not only reveals the continuity of a tradition that underlies today’s fragmented scholarly landscape, but also yields a new critique of McDowell’s conceptualist theory. In doing so, the book contributes to the ongoing bridging of traditions, by combining analytic philosophy, Kantian philosophy, and phenomenology. __Perception and Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell__ will appeal to scholars and students working in the history of philosophy, phenomenology, Kantian philosophy, and in particular the philosophy of perception. This book examines the theories of perception of John McDowell, Immanuel Kant, and Edmund Husserl, lucidly describing how they fit within their larger philosophical views on mind and reality. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series Page 3 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Sources and Abbreviations 12 Preface 18 Introduction 20 1 Kant: Sensibility, Perception, Reality 31 On Sensibility 31 Chapter Overview 31 Introduction 31 The Distinction between Sensibility and Understanding 33 A Distinct Faculty of Sensibility 35 Idealism and the Myth of the Given 39 Kant and the Myth of the Given 39 On Descartes, Idealism, and Reality 41 On the Noumenon 44 Kant’s Disjunctivism 47 McDowell on Kant and the Subjective Ideality of Space and Time 50 Concluding Remarks 52 2 Kant: Concepts, Deduction, Debates 57 The Contents of Intuition and Perception 57 Chapter Overview 57 Introduction 57 General Remarks on Synthesis 60 The Transcendental Deduction, A-Version Section 2 61 The Transcendental Deduction, A-Version Section 3 63 The Transcendental Deduction, Remarks on the B-Version 66 The Broader Picture: What Problem Does Kant’s Theory of Perception Address? 68 Kant and Contemporary Debates 70 Empirical or Category Conceptualism? 70 Reasons to Think Intuition and Perception have Non-Conceptual Content 70 The Independency Thesis 71 The Argument from Blind Intuitions and Kant’s Anthropology 72 The Argument from Incongruent Counterparts 76 Concluding Remarks 77 3 Husserl: Intentionality, Consciousness, Nature 80 Intentionality and Fulfillment 80 Chapter Overview 80 The Intentional Approach to Consciousness 80 On Sensation Contents 83 On Feelings and Dark Longings 85 On Fulfillment and Justified Belief 87 Husserl’s Critique of Kant’s Theory of Knowledge 91 The Space of Consciousness 93 Accessing Consciousness 93 On the Space of Consciousness 97 On Drawing the Line 100 On Descartes, Idealism, and Reality 104 Concluding Remarks 107 4 Husserl: Perception, Judgment, Habit 115 Sensing, Perceiving, Judging 115 Chapter Overview 115 Introduction 116 Fields of Sensations 117 Simple Apprehension and Perceptual Explication 121 Types of Conceptuality and Objects of Thought 123 Horizons, Habits, and Concepts in Perception 126 Revision: What is Perception? On the Kinesthetic System 126 On Habit 130 Kinesthetic Habit and the Constitution of Spatiality 131 Pre-Conceptual Norms and Habits in the Contents of Perception 134 Conceptual Capacities in Perception 136 Concluding Remarks 136 5 McDowell: Concepts, Perceptions, Debates 140 McDowell’s Conceptualism 140 Chapter Overview 140 Introduction 140 Conceptual Content 143 Reflections on Concepts in Perception in McDowell, Kant, and Husserl 151 Arguments for Non-Conceptual Content 156 Misinterpretations of McDowell: Psychology, Illusions, and Skillful Coping 156 Concluding Remarks 160 6 McDowell: Reasons, Nature, Reality 165 Reasons and Nature 165 Chapter Overview 165 The Space of Reasons and the Space of Nature 165 Remarks on Drawing the Line, Bildung, and Animal Consciousness 169 Reflections on the Mental and the Transcendental 172 Reasons and Nature: Kant, Husserl, and McDowell 176 On Reality and Idealism 182 On Descartes, Idealism, and Reality: Kant, Husserl, and McDowell 182 Further Remarks on Accessing Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell 186 Concluding Remarks 188 Index 192 Noumenon;,Reality;,Skillful,Coping;,Sensibility;,Transcendental,Deduction Noumenon,Reality,Skillful Coping,Sensibility,Transcendental Deduction "How does perception give us access to external reality? This book critically engages with John McDowell's conceptualist answer to this question, by offering a new exploration of his views on perception and reality in relation to those of Immanuel Kant and Edmund Husserl. In six chapters, the book examines these thinkers' respective theories of perception, lucidly describing how they fit within their larger philosophical views on mind and reality. It thereby not only reveals the continuity of a tradition that underlies today's fragmented scholarly landscape, but also yields a new critique of McDowell's conceptualist theory. In doing so, the book contributes to the ongoing bridging of traditions, by combining analytic philosophy, Kantian philosophy, and phenomenology. Perception and Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell will appeal to scholars and students working in the history of philosophy, phenomenology, Kantian philosophy, and in particular the philosophy of perception"-- Provided by publisher