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The invalidity of the argument from illusion

French, Craig; Walters, Lee

Authors

Lee Walters



Abstract

The argument from illusion attempts to establish the bold claim that we are never perceptually aware of ordinary material objects. The argument has rightly received a great deal critical of scrutiny. But here we develop a criticism that, to our knowledge, has not hitherto been explored. We consider the canonical form of the argument as it is captured in contemporary expositions. There are two stages to our criticism. First, we show that the argument is invalid. Second, we identify premises that can be used to make the argument valid. But we argue that the obvious fixes are problematic. If our arguments are successful, we show that the argument from illusion is even more difficult to defend than is commonly acknowledged.

Citation

French, C., & Walters, L. (2018). The invalidity of the argument from illusion. American Philosophical Quarterly, 55(4), 357-364

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 3, 2016
Online Publication Date Oct 1, 2018
Publication Date Oct 1, 2018
Deposit Date Dec 2, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal American Philosophical Quarterly
Print ISSN 0003-0481
Electronic ISSN 2152-1123
Publisher University of Illinois Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 55
Issue 4
Pages 357-364
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/824954
Publisher URL https://apq.press.uillinois.edu/55/4/french.html

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