origins of objectivity apr 2010

[...]... I touch on some of what is known about the perceptual systems of various animals The beginnings of perception in the evolution of various animals are simultaneously the beginnings of a primitive sort of objectivity Those beginnings are also beginnings of a primitive sort of mind Representation, perception, and objectivity are where mind begins Much of the discussion essentially all of Part II is historical... conditions ground explanations of something’s nature, the aspect of what it is that could not possibly be different if it is to be and remain what it is Thus a simple constitutive condition on accurate perception of a particular of a certain kind is that it be caused by what it is a perception of Part of the explanation of what it is to 6 Origins of Objectivity be an accurate perception of such an entity is... types of empirical representation of the physical environment constitute central instances of objectivity Objectivity is a value for mental representation How is this value realized? What is its place in the development of mind and of knowledge? Understanding minimal conditions on objective representation of the physical environment yields insight into the basis of many of the more sophisticated types of. .. conditions are constitutive origins of empirical objectivity These origins are not in themselves temporal They are the first grounds in the order of constitutive explanation Answers to questions about all three types of origins of empirical objectivity developmental, phylogenetic, and constitutive are closely interwoven In a sense, answers to questions about constitutive origins are the most basic One... series of unnamed lectures at the University of Bologna I have given swatches of the material in individual lectures or conferences at the following institutions: University of Alabama; University of Arizona; Arizona State University; Australian National University; University of British Columbia; Brown University; University of California, Irvine; University of California, Riverside; University of California,... Arthropods Perception and Origins of Temporal Representation Association, Computation, Representation 11 Glimpses Forward The Epistemic Status of Constitutive Principles Governing Perception The Upper Border of the Perceptual: Perception and Propositional Attitudes Propositional Attitudes, Individual Representationalism, and Conceptualization of Perception Origins, Levels, and Types of Objectivity Bibliography... the exercise of other sensory capacities besides perception for being the kind of representational state that it is Both uses of ‘empirical’ figure in the discussion The second dominates An example of empirical representation that is itself perception is a perception of, and as of, a moving silver sphere An example of a representational state that depends on perception for being the kind of representational... is distinctively instantiated in perception, language, and thought This kind is a fundamental and distinctive feature of mind It lies at the origins of primitive forms of objectivity and of perspective or point of view It is a kind distinctively associated with explanations in terms of states, occurrences, or symbols with veridicality conditions conditions for being accurate, or for being true or false... the lower border of that “cut” As noted, this border which demarcates origins not only of perception, but also of representation and objectivity begins at more primitive levels than philosophy has traditionally recognized These are the origins of representational mind I have tried to make philosophical abstractions accessible to readers who are not, and are not bent on becoming, professional philosophers... the nature of the concepts alone I did not merely consult and analyze my concepts of perception, numbers, moving bodies, rocks, light cones, and buildings to arrive at answers That is why I have used the term ‘conceptual’ in scare quotes Some of the relevant knowledge and understanding is empirically warranted, but very general and secure Some of it is apriori, but not a matter of analysis of concepts .