Naive Introspection in the Philosophy of Perception

Summary

The paper critically examines how introspection is used in contemporary philosophy of perception. It distinguishes between two meanings of introspection: introspective access and introspective method, which are often conflated. Concerns raised over a century ago by early experimental psychologists about using introspection to collect data on consciousness are still relevant to current philosophical work but remain unaddressed. Arguments relying on introspection-based phenomenal descriptions are methodologically problematic, though introspection still has a role in theorizing if used more carefully.

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Abstract

In this paper I critically examine uses of introspection in present-day philosophy of perception. First, I introduce a distinction between two different meanings of the term ‘introspection’: introspective access and introspective method. I show that they are both at work in the philosophy of perception but not adequately distinguished. I then lay out some concerns about the use of introspection to collect data about consciousness that were raised in over a hundred years ago, by some early experimentalist psychologists, part of so-called ‘Introspectionist Psychology’. As I argue, these concerns apply to current philosophical uses of introspection but they are not acknowledged, much less addressed. I explain this by applying the distinction between introspective access and introspective method. As a result, extant arguments relying on introspection-based phenomenal descriptions are methodologically problematic. These problems do not call into question the use of introspection in theorising altogether. But we need to take more care in how we use it.

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