牛津大学哲学概论Peter-Millican-Genera-Philosophy-General-MT11-6-Perception-PQSQ.pptVIP

Hume Peter Millican, Tampere, Sept 2006 General Philosophy The Mechanisms of Perception The “mechanical philosophy” of Descartes and others had to explain perception in terms of particles (or waves) affected by the objects and in turn impacting on our sense organs. Most discussion focused on sight and touch, the two senses that seem to come closest to presenting external objects as a whole. Locke’s account was particularly influential, emphasising the primary/secondary distinction which had been implicit in Descartes. What are Objects Like? Mechanical explanations of perception imply that our impressions of objects are conveyed by mechanisms whose stages (e.g. impact of particles on our sense organs) bear no resemblance to the objects themselves. The mechanical paradigm also suggests that objects’ fundamental properties will be those involved in mechanical interaction – i.e. geometrical and dynamic properties. Locke and Corpuscularianism Locke takes Boyle’s “corpuscularian hypothesis” (IV iii 16) as plausible: Properties of substances arise from theirparticular micro-structure: composed of“corpuscles” of “universal matter” (Boyle)or “pure substance in general” (Locke). Underlying substance has primary qualities:shape, size, movement etc., texture, and “impenetrability” (Boyle) or “solidity” (Locke). Secondary qualities (e.g. colour, smell, taste) are powers to cause ideas in us. Pains, Colours, and Shapes Suppose a circular hotplate on an oven is glowing red hot. I bring my hand close to it and feel warmth, then pain … The sensations of felt warmth and pain are clearly “in the mind”. The circular shape of the hotplate is, we are inclined to say, “really in the object”. So is the red colour of the hotplate “in the mind” or “in the object”? A Problematic Text Locke’s Essay, II viii 10: “Such Qualities, which in truth are nothing in the Objects themselves, but Powers to produce various Sensations in us by their primary Qualities, i.e. by the Bulk, Figure, Texture