How Husserl's and Searle's contextual model reformulates the discussion about the conceptual content of perception

Pol Vandevelde

Marquette University

pp. 57-76

in: Roberto Walton, Shigeru Taguchi, Roberto Rubio (eds), Perception, affectivity, and volition in Husserl's phenomenology, Berlin, Springer, 2017

Abstrakt

I argue that Husserl's notion of horizon and Searle's notion of background offer a contextual model of perception that significantly reformulates the debate about the conceptual vs. nonconceptual content of perception. I illustrate the model by using a test case: the perception of an ancient Roman milestone—an example given by Husserl—which both Husserl and Searle consider to be a direct and immediate perception without inferences involved. I further differentiate Husserl's and Searle's views, arguing that Husserl's model has the advantage of accounting for the diachronic aspect of perception.

Cited authors

Husserl Edmund

Searle John