Molyneux Question and the History of Philosophy 1st Edition by Gabriele Ferretti, Brian Glenney ISBN 9780367030926 0367030926

Part I Historical advances in Molyneux’s question

Introduction to Part I: Historical advances in Molyneux’s question

Conjectures at new answers

Notes

References

1 Epicureanism and Molyneux’s question

Locke, Molyneux, and Epicureanism: why?

The problem of form

The problem of three-dimensionality

Epicurus and Molyneux

Notes

References

2 Molyneux, mysticism, empiricism, and independent thinking

What Ibn Ṭufayl wrote

Pococke brings Ibn Ṭufayl to England

Locke and Ibn Ṭufayl

Locke and Molyneux

Notes

3 A Spinozistic answer to Molyneux’s question

Spinoza’s negative answer?

Spinoza’s affirmative answer?

More questions and a thesis

Extension and its appearance

How Spinoza should answer Molyneux’s question

Notes

References

4 Amo on Molyneux’s question

Introduction

Amo’s commitments on cognition and sensation

Commitment 1: The human mind is impassive

Commitment 2: Sensation belongs to the organic, living body

Commitment 3: The mind can use its organic, living body as an instrument

Molyneux’s query in Amo’s framework

What might Amo respond to Molyneux’s question?

Option 1: Vision gives us figure directly

Option 2: Ideas of shape are not tied to a particular sense modality

Option 3: Ideas of vision could translate into ideas of touch

Amo’s response to Molyneux’s question, and what it might tell us about Amo’s philosophy

Notes

References

5 Margaret Cavendish and Molyneux’s question: Patterning, perception, and touch

Cavendish’s theory of perception and the furniture of the mind

Answering Molyneux’s question

A challenge to understanding Cavendish’s answer as “yes”: the “true knowledge” of objects

Conclusion

Notes

References

6 Damaris Masham and Molyneux’s question: What response would Masham have given?

Why not discuss Molyneux’s question?

Considering Molyneux’s question

An answer to Molyneux’s question

Conclusion

Notes

Acknowledgements

References

7 Molyneux’s question: The Irish debates

Introduction

Toland and Browne: Christian mysteries and revealed religion

King and Collins: human freedom and divine foreknowledge

Berkeley and Browne: analogical knowledge

Conclusion

Notes

Acknowledgements

References

8 Molyneux’s question at the Erasmiaans Gymnasium, Rotterdam

Molyneux, Locke and Rotterdam: the connection

Molyneux’s question answered by pupils of the Erasmiaans Gymnasium

Results

Numbers and percentages of affirmative and negative answers to Molyneux’s question, according to gender and age

Arguments for a positive answer

Arguments for a negative answer

Alternative versions of Molyneux’s question

Discussion

Notes

Acknowledgements

References

9 Molyneux’s vision

Introduction

Molyneux’s question

Molyneux and Berkeley

Recovery from cataract removal

Molyneux’s vision

References

Part II Ethical advances in Molyneux’s question

Introduction to Part II: Ethical advances in Molyneux’s question

Notes

References

10 The Cult of the Born Completely Blind Man, revisited

Introduction

The context of the Cult of the Born Completely Blind Man: the epistemology of the cult

Christian theology, the arts and deficit

The influence of Descartes and Boyle on the Enlightenment: Descartes and Dioptrics

Boyle and the theory of color

Locke and the Enlightenment: Locke’s political and theological journey

Locke, blindness and consciousness

Discussion

The problem of human taxonomies

Politics and metaphysics and their influence on theories of mind

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

References

11 The Molyneux cult

Part III Empirical advances in Molyneux’s question

Introduction to Part III: Empirical advances in Molyneux’s question

References

12 Molyneux’s question and the semantics of seeing

Introduction

What case studies pertaining to cataract surgery tell us about Molyneux’s question

The semantics of seeing

The semantics of “see” and Molyneux’s question

Low-level properties and low visual acuity

Higher-level perception and viewpoint-independent properties

Visuo-sensory states and MQ

Conclusion

Notes

References

13 Molyneux’s question and neuroscience of vision

Introduction

The effect of early visual deprivation on the development of visual processing

The effect of early visual deprivation on the development of multisensory processing

Restoration of sight as a tool to answer Molyneux’s question: initial approaches

A centuries-old enigma: modern experimental approaches to Molyneux’s question

Conclusion

References

14 No yes answers to Molyneux

Positive answers

Molyneux’s elephant and some original abstractions

Some complexities

Concluding scientific postscript

Notes

Acknowledgements

References

Part IV Philosophical advances in Molyneux’s question

Introduction to Part IV: Philosophical advances in Molyneux’s question

References

15 Molyneux’s question and interpersonal variations in multimodal mental imagery among blind subjects

Introduction

Molyneux’s question

Multimodal mental imagery

Mental imagery in blind people

Back to Molyneux’s question

Tolstoian conclusions

Notes

Acknowledgements

References

16 Molyneux’s question and perceptual judgments

Introduction

Perceptual judgments

Recovering sight

Philosophically informative empirical failures

Notes

References

17 Action at first sight

Which question?

Molyneux in action: the past

Molyneux in action: the present

A new question in action: the future

Vision-for-action, visuomotor imagery and action properties

Is superimposition of visuomotor imagery possible for newly sighted subjects?

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

Notes

References

18 Molyneux’s question and somatosensory spaces

Molyneux’s question as a thought experiment

Somatosensory spaces

The interoceptivity of pain

The exteroceptivity of thermal perception

Object perceptions and the tactile field

Back to Molyneux’s question

Notes

Further reading

References

19 Molyneux on LSD

NCCs

NCCs on LSD

Naïve reporting of conscious experience

A Molyneux methodology

The naivety condition and attention

Conclusion: a new paradigm for testing people born blind

Notes

References

20 What was Molyneux’s question a question about?

On the origin of general ideas

Experience, ideas, and properties

A new question: analysing ideas

Space and the modalities: sceptical remarks

Shape: foundation and integration

Beyond shape: the perceptual representation of faces, biological motion, and more

Another clue to modality-specific processing: evidence from illusion

Perceptual affect: does it carry over?

Conclusion

Notes

References

Index