Aristotle famously claimed that we perceive that we see or hear, and that this metaperception necessarily accompanies all conscious sensory experiences. In this essay I compare Aristotle’s account of metaperception with three main models of self-awareness to be found in the contemporary literature. The first model countenances introspection or inner sense as higher-order perception. The second model rejects introspection altogether, and maintains that judgments that we see or hear can be directly extracted from the first-order experience, using a procedure sometimes (...) called “an ascent routine.” The third model insists that the first-order experience has a twofold intentional structure: it is directed both at the perceived external object and at itself, i.e., reflexively. Although Aristotle’s own account is certainly closer to the third model (as Brentano rightly observed), the latter does not exhaust Aristotle’s insights on metaperception. One function of the common sense in Aristotle’s theory of perception is apparently to monitor the activity of our sensory modalities, and to make us aware that we see or hear independently of the sensory contents of our experience. I shall suggest that the monitoring function of perception is best understood in relation with contemporary cognitive science research on metacognition. Common sense is or involves a metaperceptual practical ability distinct from both object level sensory perception and metarepresentational knowledge about our senses. (shrink)

이 글은 『영혼론』 3권 2장에서 제시되는 지각의 지각에 대한 아리스토텔레스의 논의를 다룬다. 이 내용은 아리스토텔레스의 의식 이론, 혹은 더 나아가 통각 이론을 재구성하는 데 가장 결정적인 텍스트로 간주되어 온 것이다. 이 글에서필자는 우선 아리스토텔레스의 논의의 구조를 분석한 다음, 지각의 지각이 어떤 능력에 의해 가능한가가 그의 관심사라는 전통적인 해석에 반대하는 캐스톤의 소위 '활동-해석'을 검토할 것이다. 그의 해석은 많은 후속 논의를 촉발한 흥미로운 제안을 담고 있기는 하지만, 궁극적으로는 텍스트의 기본 취지를 왜곡하고 있다는 것임이 드러날 것이다. 필자는 마지막 단락에서 지각의 지각을 공통감각의 작용으로 (...) 이해하는 해석을 소개하고, 정확히 공통감각의 어떤 측면이 지각의 지각과 밀접히 연관되어 있다고 볼 수 있는가에 관해서 하나의 생각을 제안할 것이다. 이 제안은 지각의 지각 능력이 지각의 비활성화에 대한 지각의 능력을 함축하며, 이것이 시간에대한 지각 능력과 밀접하게 연결되어 있다는 것이다. (shrink)

This paper aims to identify several interpretive problems posed by the final part ofDAII.11 (423b27–424 a10), where Aristotle intertwines the thesis that a sense is like a ‘mean’ and an explanation for the existence of a ‘blind spot’ related to the sense of touch, adding the further contention that we are capable of discriminating because the mean ‘becomes the other opposite’ in relation to the perceptible property being perceived. To solve those problems, the paper explores a novel interpretation of Aristotle’s (...) claims, arguing that they describe a homeostatic physiological reaction by which the sensory apparatus responds to perceptible stimuli. According to the proposed interpretation, such homeostatic reaction constitutes a necessary condition for perceiving what Aristotle refers to as ‘proper’ perceptible features, which include properties like ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ as well as colors and sounds. (shrink)

La crítica contemporánea ha mostrado el contraste entre la teoría de la visión expuesta en los libros I y III de Meteorológicos y el resto de obras mayores del corpus aristotelicum. En este artículo presentamos una clasifi cación de las principales interpretaciones arrojadas sobre esta irregularidad. Finalmente, propondremos una exégesis de estos pasajes acorde con la teoría estándar establecida por Aristóteles en las obras psicológicas.

Resumen: La “visión escotópica” desarrollada por Aristóteles en De Anima II 7 es la primera formulación sistemática de este fenómeno clave para las actuales neurociencias. En la teoría aristotélica surge una aparente contradicción entre el “compromiso ontológico” de la oscuridad como privación y el “realismo gnoseológico” que considera visible esa misma oscuridad. Tomás de Aquino en su Sententia libri De Anima propone una interpretación que establece la relación analógica entre luz y oscuridad a través del color. Esta estrategia permite disolver (...) cualquier contrariedad y establecer una percepción visual de la oscuridad en sentido realista.: The “scotopic vision” developed by Aristotle in De Anima II 7 is the first systematic formulation of this key phenomenon for current neurosciences. In this theory an apparent contradiction arises between the “ontological commitment” of darkness as deprivation and the “gnoseological realism” that considers that same darkness visible. Tomás de Aquino in his Sententia libri De Anima proposes an interpretation that establishes the analogical relationship between light and darkness through color. This strategy allows to dissolve any annoyance and establish a visual perception of darkness in a realistic. (shrink)