A Pluralist’s Guide to Solving Molyneux’s Problem

Brian Glenney (Norwich University, USA)

$284

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Routledge
31 December 2024

Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge; Philosophy of mind; Disability: social aspects; Sociology; Cognition & cognitive psychology

Series: Routledge Studies in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy

This book presents a novel pluralist strategy for answering Molyneux’s 300+-year-old conundrum: Would a person, born blind but given sight, identify a shape previously known only by their touch? The author interweaves historical scholarship with contemporary philosophical work and empirical research on animal, infant, and adult human perception.

The author argues that we need a new approach to Molyneux’s problem because we do not know what the problem is really about, and it is untestable because a Molyneux subject cannot be physically realized. He criticizes Molyneux’s question for its simplistic taxonomy of ""the blind"" that groups significant individual differences into a singular ontology. Research in the cognitive sciences confirms that various kinds of blindness can co-occur, such as ocular, cortical, and psychological blindness. Therefore, the author adopts an explanatory pluralism for answering Molyneux’s problem, which includes no, yes, and ""no answer"" answers according to the domain of inquiry being used. This account provides a research-based answer to a long-standing problem using previously unheeded insights particularly from animal crossmodal perception studies to retell a more complex story of perception: its levels of explanation and integration.

A Pluralist’s Guide to Solving Molyneux’s Problem will be of interest to researchers and advanced students working in comparative psychology, epistemology, history of philosophy, philosophy of perception.

By: Brian Glenney (Norwich University USA)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781032185712
ISBN 10: 1032185716
Series: Routledge Studies in Seventeenth-Century Philosophy
Pages: 232
Publication Date: 31 December 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Plan of the Book 1. Seven Problems for the Two-Choice Approach to Molyneux’s Problem 2. Molyneux’s Tool and the Philosophy of Perception 3. Puzzle Pluralism: A Broad Explanatory Account for Molyneux’s Problem 4. A Pluralist Resolution to Molyneux’s Problem 5. Locke’s Answer and a Plug and Play History of Molyneux’s Problem 6. The New Molyneux Problem 7. Molyneux’s Animals: Promises and Problems 8. Meaningful Movements of Molyneux’s Animals 9. Molyneux’s Underwater Animals and the Possibility of a Supramodal Sense 10. A New Skill-Based Experimental Paradigm for Testing Molyneux’s Problem Epilogue

Brian Glenney is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Norwich University. He has wide interests in the history of philosophy and sensory perception. He focuses on Molyneux’s problem and co-edited the book Molyneux’s Question and the History of Philosophy (2020), the special issue “Molyneux’s Question Today,” (2024) and has authored encyclopedia entries and journal articles.