Philosophy of Perception in the Psychologist’s Laboratory
PsyArXiv January 9, 2023 Jorge Morales, Chaz Firestone 1 citation preprint
Perception is the primary way humans access the external world, and its nature is explored by both scientists and philosophers. Philosophers ask fundamental questions about whether senses represent the world in comparable ways, how much of the environment can be perceived at once, which aspects are objective or subjective, and what counts as perceptual. While these fields often proceed independently, a new research focus reunites them by putting long-standing philosophical questions to empirical test. This work directly tests philosophical conjectures or thought experiments in the laboratory, such that the experiments would not have proceeded without prior philosophical discussion. The review explores themes from these successful interactions and suggests further philosophical questions amenable to empirical approaches.