Nonconceptual Content, Causal Theory, and Realism
The Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication October 18, 2016 Błażej Skrzypulec
The paper examines whether the idea that perceptual states have nonconceptual content can support realism about the external world. It distinguishes two forms of realism: correlation realism, where perceptual distinctions match environmental distinctions, and ontological realism, where perception and reality share the same categories. The author argues that nonconceptual content is neither necessary nor sufficient to justify correlation realism. For ontological realism, the causal theory of perception used in the argument already assumes that realism, while a weaker causal theory cannot justify it even with nonconceptual content and successful perception.