Essay about Blindsight and Qualities of Visual Perception

Blindsight and Qualities of Visual Perception ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to defend a broad concept of visual perception, according to which it is a sufficient condition for visual perception that subjects receive visual information in a way which enables them to give reliably correct answers about the objects presented to them. According to this view, blindsight, non-epistemic seeing, and conscious visual experience count as proper types of visual perception. This leads to two consequences concerning the role of the phenomenal qualities of visual experiences. First, phenomenal qualities are not necessary in order to see something, because in the case of blindsight, subjects can see objects without experiences phenomenal†¦show more content†¦Concerning the role of the phenomenal qualities for seeing particularly the following two questions are of importance: (1) The first question is dealing with the causal or functional role of phenomenal qualities: Under the assumption that seeing is based on cortical information-processing, the question arises, whether the phenomenal qualities of visual perceptions have a function with regard to this processing, in the sense that the intentional content of visual perceptions depends not only on their intentional, but also on their phenomenal qualities. Is it true, as among other authors Frank Jackson and Steven Pinker claim, that phenomenal qualities are only epiphenomena, not having any function for information-processing? (1) (2) The second question concerns the status of phenomenal qualities: Are the phenomenal qualities of visual perceptions non-intentional qualities, or do they belong to a certain type of intentional qualities? In other words, are phenomenal and intentional contents essentially different, or are the so-called phenomenal contents of visual perceptions really part of their intentional contents? In order to come to a decision concerning these two questions, several authors, among them Peter Carruthers, Daniel Dennett, Colin McGinn, Nicholas Humphrey and Robert VanGulick, refer to an empirical phenomenon called blindsight. (2)Show MoreRelatedExploring The Possibilities Of Discovering The Neural Correlates Of Visual Consciousness2010 Words   |  9 PagesExploring the possibilities of discovering the neural correlates of visual consciousness In the ongoing strive to better understand the mechanism of consciousness, the possibility of discovering the neural correlates of consciousness (NCCs) is arguably the leading agenda in its scientific research. Although the question of whether consciousness can be fully reduced to its neural correlates remains debatable, it is still credible that whenever an appropriate brain process occurs, the associated subjectiveRead MoreWhat Are the Difficulties Encountered by Psychologists in Studying Consciousness? to What Extent Have Theory and Research in Cognitive Psychology Helped Overcome These Difficulties?2927 Words   |  12 Pages It is an inclusive term for a number of central aspects of our existence; the state of being awake and aware of ourselves in our environment as opposed to being asleep; being aware of particular sensations or mental events or being aware of the quality of our experiences; and also, self-consciousness, our awareness and monitoring of what we are doing and th inking (Andrade, 2010). Pinker (1997) summarises these aspects in three: sentience or Block’s (1995, as cited in Andrade, 2010) phenomenal awareness;