In Defence of a Dogma: A Husserlian Argument for the Inadequacy of Perception (Departmental Seminar)
Prof. Søren Overgaard |
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4:30pm-6:30pm HK Time |
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Room 101, Fung King Hey Building with synchronous online broadcasting on Zoom |
Joining the Seminar face-to-face:
Limited seats for face-to-face seminar. Registrations will be handled on a first come, first served basis.
Register by 15 February 2024: https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13682842
Joining the Seminar online:
No registration is required.
Link: https://cuhk.zoom.us/j/92799324618
Meeting ID: 927 9932 4618
Enquiries:
Tel: 3943 7135
Email: philosophy@cuhk.edu.hk
Abstract:
Few Husserlian theses claim as widespread support as his idea that perception is ‘inadequate’ vis-à-vis its object. This thesis (henceforth ‘The Inadequacy Thesis’, or ‘The Thesis’ for short) has been adopted by phenomenologists too numerous to mention and enjoys support outside the phenomenological movement, too. Mostly, The Inadequacy Thesis is not argued for, much less criticized, but simply assumed true. As Matt Bower puts it in a recent article, it is ‘typical to suppose that [the thesis] is obvious enough to use as a starting point’ (Bower 2021, p. 757). In short, The Thesis is treated as a dogma.
There are two general sources of resistance to The Thesis. First, one may accept that when we perceive an object there is an anticipation of absent features of the object, but deny that the anticipation is itself perceptual. Second, one may reject the very idea that there is any anticipation of absent features in the first place. In my talk, I mainly address the second source of resistance to the Husserlian dogma.
Delivered in English.
All are welcome.