The dualistic approach to perception

Abstract

It is rare to find a great deal of agreement among philosophers and psychologists. However, concerning sense perception some basic assumptions have, for a long time, been common to various opposing views. Because they were common they were hidden as well; they were not explicitly formulated or assembled under a common name. It is our aim to do just this. We term this approach "The Dualistic Approach to Perception" because it presumes a dichotomy between sensation and meaning, in which sensation in itself is meaningless. Meaning is bestowed upon sensation by the subject; sensation is prior to that bestowal. This type of dualism exists, not merely in sense reception, but also in language and art. Our discussion, however, will deal only with sense reception. Our main concern is the critical exposition of the dualistic approach and not the depiction of its historical development. The first section presents four basic assumptions of the traditional approach. The second section classifies different versions of the dualistic approach. The classification is made in light of a few basic aspects that each dualistic position has to account for. The third section indicates our criticism of this approach.