Perceptualism, Not Introspectionism: The Interpretation of Intuition-Based Theories

Abstract

DAVID TEMPERLEY HAS INTERPRETED INTUITION-BASED theories in music cognition, such as GTTM and his own theories, along introspectionist lines. Perception is a better model for such theories than introspection. It is obscure what introspective mechanism would make unconscious representations conscious while reliably preserving their content. The analyses that furnish data for intuition-based theories, moreover, must be in a public language for which there is a satisfactory account of meaning and understanding. It is unclear how this requirement is satisfied on an introspectionist model. A construal of intuition as perceptual judgment avoids these objections. The introspectionist model misleads us into thinking that intuition-based theories warrant conclusions about non-analytical listening. Limiting the data of intuition-based theories to appearances limits their scope and explanatory power, warranting complementation by other approaches in cognitive science.