PHIL31030

Learning Outcomes:

Students who successfully complete this module will:

(1) have a good grasp of some of the central issues in contemporary philosophy of perception and the senses
(2) have engaged critically with the most important views and arguments in this area, and
(3) have developed some independent thoughts and arguments on those issues.

Indicative Module Content:

The precise topics covered each year may vary, but may include:

• How many senses do we have, and what are they? (Hint: more than five!)
• Do colours, sounds, tastes and smells exist outside the mind?
• What are the objects of visual, tactile, auditory, taste and smell experience?
• What can hallucination and illusion tell us about ordinary experience?
• How do various senses interact in multisensory experience?
• Is perception a “controlled hallucination”? What does this mean?
• Do the senses deceive us or reveal aspects of the objective world?

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:

The module will be taught using a combination of: (1) weekly 2-hour interactive lectures, during which students are encouraged to ask questions and discuss issues of interest; (2) 50-minute tutorials (Weeks 2–7, 9–12) which will focus on detailed discussion of the assigned readings; plus (3) independent reading and reflection. To successfully complete the module, students are advised and expected to participate fully in all three of these components.

Generative AI may be used in assignments for stated purposes only, for which further guidance will be issued by the module coordinator, and within UCD’s Academic Integrity Policy. Submitted assignments must otherwise be all your own work.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.

Module Requisites and Incompatibles

Additional Information:
Students should have taken at least two other philosophy modules prior to commencing the module, or have relevant background from another subject (e.g. Psychology or Cognitive Science).


 

Assessment Strategy

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.

 

Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Useful sources for further reading in philosophy of perception include:

Barwich, Ann-Sophie (2020). Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind. Harvard University Press.

Byrne, Alex & Heather Logue (eds.) (2008). Disjunctivism: Contemporary Readings. MIT Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucd/detail.action?docID=3338981

Fish, William (2009). Perception, Hallucination, and Illusion, Oxford University Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucd/detail.action?docID=415645

Fish, William. (2021). Philosophy of Perception: A Contemporary Introduction, Second Edition. Routledge. ISBN: 978-0415999120. https://doi-org.ucd.idm.oclc.org/10.4324/9781351049504

Gendler, Tamar Szabo, & John Hawthorne (eds.) (2006). Perceptual Experience. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199289769.001.0001

Macpherson, Fiona (ed.) (2011). The Senses: Classic and Contemporary Philosophical Perspectives. Oxford University Press.

Matthen, Mohan (ed.) (2015). The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Perception. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199600472.001.0001

Mroczko-Wąsowicz, Aleksandra, & Rick Grush (eds) (2023). Sensory Individuals: Unimodal and Multimodal Perspectives. Oxford University Press. https://doi-org.ucd.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/oso/9780198866305.001.0001

Nanay, Bence (2021). Perception: The Basics. Routledge.

Noë, Alva & Evan Thompson (eds.) (2002). Vision and Mind: Selected Readings in the Philosophy of Perception, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN: 0-262-64047-3

Nudds, Matthew, & Casey O’Callaghan (eds.) (2009). Sounds and Perception: New Philosophical Essays, Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282968.001.0001

O’Callaghan, Casey (2017). Beyond Vision: Philosophical Essays. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198782964.001.0001

O’Callaghan, Casey (2019). A Multisensory Philosophy of Perception. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198833703.001.0001

Pautz, Adam (2021). Perception, New Problems of Philosophy Series. Routledge.

Siegel, Susanna (2011). The Contents of Visual Experience, Philosophy of Mind Series. Oxford University Press. https://doi-org.ucd.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305296.001.0001

Stokes, Dustin, Mohan Matthen, & Stephen Biggs (eds.) (2014). Perception and Its Modalities. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199832798.001.0001

Wilson, Keith A., & Fiona Macpherson (2018). ‘The Senses’. In D. Pritchard (ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Philosophy. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780195396577-0368

Young, Benjamin (2024). Stinking Philosophy! Smell Perception, Cognition, and Consciousness. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/15373.001.0001

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.