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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
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    Perspectives
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    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Sensory ideas are not misrepresentations of qualities in objects, but are so obscure and confused that we cannot determine their representational content from their phenomenal character alone.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Phenomenal character is itself constitutive of representational content for sensory states, not merely a symptom of it (Shoemaker, 'The Inverted Spectrum').
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    • 2.If two sensory ideas share identical phenomenal character, they share identical representational content — obscurity cannot divorce the two without collapsing the concept of misrepresentation entirely.
      ?

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    • 3.Descartes' own criterion of clear and distinct perception presupposes that phenomenal character is at least a defeasible guide to content, making total opacity self-undermining.
      ?

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    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Reid's direct realism holds that sensory qualities are original perceptions of mind-independent properties, not obscure proxies requiring theoretical mediation to interpret.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If metaphysics and natural philosophy are required to fix the representational content of color sensations, then pre-theoretical perceivers lack the concept of color altogether — a conclusion that conflicts with the observable competence of ordinary perceptual agents.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Sensory ideas may represent something positive in things, but the reality they represent is so slight it cannot be distinguished from a non-thing.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The phenomenal character of sensations (such as cold or color) does not reveal what those sensations obscurely represent.
      ?

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    • 3.Metaphysics and natural philosophy are required to determine what color sensations obscurely represent (e.g., properties of object-surfaces that reflect light in certain ways).
      ?

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