David Bennett & Juhana Toivanen 
Philosophical Problems in Sense Perception: Testing the Limits of Aristotelianism 

This volume focuses on philosophical problems concerning sense perception in the history of philosophy. It consists of thirteen essays that analyse the philosophical tradition originating in Aristotle’s writings. Each essay tackles a particular problem that tests the limits of Aristotle’s theory of perception and develops it in new directions. The problems discussed range from simultaneous perception to causality in perception, from the representational nature of sense-objects to the role of conscious attention, and from the physical/mental divide to perception as quasi-rational judgement. 





The volume gives an equal footing to Greek, Arabic, and Latin philosophical traditions. It makes a substantial contribution not just to the study of the Aristotelian analysis of sense perception, but to its reception in the commentary tradition and beyond. Thus, the papers address developments in Alexander of Aphrodisias, Themistius, Avicenna, John of Jandun, Nicole Oresme, and Sayf al-Din al-Amidi, among others. The result of this is a coherent collection that attacks a well-defined topic from a wide range of perspectives and across philosophical traditions.

Table of Content

Chapter 1. Bennett, David and Toivanen, Juhana. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Ganson, Todd. Aristotle on Perception as Representation.- Chapter 3. Kalderon, Mark Eli. Perception as Presentation: Aristotle and Theaetetus..- Chapter 4. Hangai, Attila. Alexander of Aphrodisias on Simultaneous Perception.- Chapter 5. Coda, Elisa. Common Sense in Themistius and its Reception in the pseudo-Philoponus and Avicenna.- Chapter 6. Kaukua, Jari. On Common Sense, Estimation, and the Soul’s Unity in Avicenna.- Chapter 7. Hassan, Laura. Sense Perception in Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī: A Theologian’s Encounter with Avicennan Psychology.- Chapter 8. Mc Ginnis, Jon. Setting One’s Sights on Sight: Observations on Sense Perception in Sayf al-Dīn al-Āmidī.- Chapter 9. Robert, Aurélien. John of Jandun on Sense Perception and Instantaneous Change.- Chapter 10. Ebbesen, Sten. Radulphus Brito, John of Jandun, and Alexander on Relational Nature of Perception.- Chapter 11. Grellard, Christophe. Attention, Recognition, and Error in Nicole Oresme’s Psychology.- Chapter 12. Silva, José Filipe. Activity, Judgment, and Recognition in Nicole Oresme’s Philosophy of Perception.

About the author

David Bennett was a Research Associate in Representation and Reality research programme at the University of Gothenburg. He specialises in the philosophical and theological controversies of the 9th-10th century Islamicate world, particularly the early development of Muʿtazilite thought. He has written on pre-Avicennan accounts of sense perception, veridical dreams, and conceptualization, and he is currently working on a monograph about atoms. Juhana Toivanen is an Academy Research Fellow at the University of Jyväskylä, and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Gothenburg. He has published widely on medieval philosophy of mind, including a monograph Perception and the Internal Senses (Brill 2013). Currently he is working, among other things, on medieval conceptions of human sociability.