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Full-Text Articles in Cognition and Perception
Quality-Space Theory In Olfaction, Benjamin D. Young, Andreas Keller, David Rosenthal
Quality-Space Theory In Olfaction, Benjamin D. Young, Andreas Keller, David Rosenthal
Publications and Research
Quality-space theory (QST) explains the nature of the mental qualities distinctive of perceptual states by appeal to their role in perceiving. QST is typically described in terms of the mental qualities that pertain to color. Here we apply QST to the olfactory modalities. Olfaction is in various respects more complex than vision, and so provides a useful test case for QST. To determine whether QST can deal with the challenges olfaction presents, we show how a quality space (QS) could be constructed relying on olfactory perceptible properties and the olfactory mental qualities then defined by appeal to that QS of …
Reid On Olfaction And Secondary Qualities, Jake Quilty-Dunn
Reid On Olfaction And Secondary Qualities, Jake Quilty-Dunn
Publications and Research
Thomas Reid is one of the primary early expositors of the “dual-component” theory of perception, according to which conscious perception constitutively involves a non-intentional sensation accompanied by a noninferential perceptual belief. In this paper, I will explore Reid's account of olfactory perception, and of odor as a secondary quality. Reid is often taken to endorse a broadly Lockean picture of secondary qualities, according to which they are simply dispositions to cause sensations. This picture creates problems, however, for Reid's account of how we perceive secondary qualities, including odors. Given Reid's insistence that we come to be aware of odors only …