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SUMMARY:A problem for determining the structural features of experience: a
  pessimistic meta-induction - Fiona Macpherson (University of Glasgow)
DTSTART:20241107T153000Z
DTEND:20241107T170000Z
UID:TALK223468@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Dr. Rosanna Dent
DESCRIPTION:A dominant thought in consciousness studies is that we should 
 investigate consciousness (either wholly\, or at least in part) by studyin
 g the structural features of consciousness. Structural features of experie
 nce are necessary (or invariant) features of experience. Examples include 
 the Kantian claim that all perceptual experiences must be experiences of s
 pace and time\, and the claim that experience of red are more similar to e
 xperiences of blue than they are to experiences of green. Ontic structural
 ists believe that all there is to consciousness is its structure. Methodol
 ogical structuralists think that scientific investigation of consciousness
  can only reveal structural features of consciousness. Many\, not committe
 d to either of those claims\, nevertheless think that a fruitful approach 
 to understanding consciousness will lie in understanding its structure. In
  contrast to all of these positions\, I argue that we ought to be pessimis
 tic about our ability to determine the structural features of experience 
 – if indeed there are any. The argument takes the form of a pessimistic 
 meta-induction: many claims as to what are structural features of experien
 ce have turned out to be false. My diagnosis of why people have made claim
 s about what the structure of experience is – claims that have turned ou
 t to be false – is that people are consistently fooled by the limitation
 s of their own sensory imagination and they consistently underestimate the
  range of sensory experiences they – and other people – have not had. 
 So\, in fact\, we should not be confident that we can determine the struct
 ural features of experience – if indeed there are any.
LOCATION:Hopkinson Lecture Theatre\, New Museums Site
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