Epistemology and Perception

(4 Credits)

Compare a sighted person with a blindsighted person, who has no experience of a visual stimulus, but nevertheless registers its presence in unconscious processing. Does the sighted person have more justification for believing that a visual stimulus is present? Compare a visual experience with a visual imagining. Does the visual experience have a distinctive kind of phenomenal character? If so, does such phenomenal character help explain how the experience justify beliefs? In this course, we will survey a few features of perceptual experiences that might explain their ability to justify beliefs, including phenomenal character, content, and etiology. We will also consider the epistemological significance of a range of perceptual phenomena, such as cognitive penetration and perceptual learning. Prerequisite: You must have completed at least one introductory course in philosophy. Fulfillment: Humanities Advanced elective.