An Empirical Stalemate: Why Science Fails to Settle a Central Philosophical Debate About Perception
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research November 21, 2025 Peter Fisher Epstein, Umrao Sethi
Empirical arguments in the philosophy of perception, such as the Argument from Structure, aim to settle debates between internalism and externalism about visual experience. This paper argues that the same empirical evidence used to support internalism about color experience also supports externalism about shape experience. Because a unified metaphysical account of visual experience is required, these opposing arguments cancel each other out, leading to a dialectical stalemate. Thus, empirical arguments do not overcome the limitations of armchair theorizing but instead reinforce the existing impasse.