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Classes of Sensory Classification: A Commentary on Mohan Matthen, Seeing, Doing, and Knowing
Author(s) -
CLARK AUSTEN
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
philosophy and phenomenological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1933-1592
pISSN - 0031-8205
DOI - 10.1111/j.1933-1592.2007.00139.x
Subject(s) - citation , art history , psychology , library science , computer science , art
The upshot is that when one is aware of two things looking the same, one is aware of one of the byproducts of sensory classification. "Classificatory sameness and difference are expressed as phenomenal sameness and difference" (90) Here is an example. If you look about your surroundings, you might notice patches of variously different colors and textures. Some patches look the same color; others differ, to greater or lesser degrees. Pick two that look the same. According to Matthen, in sensory processing there were "acts of classification" in which those two patches were both assigned to the same class. They were categorized as members of class kappa. So matching patches in the visual field betoken assignment to the same class. 2. Disunity of color. The notion that sensory classifications are systemgenerated becomes particularly potent when allied with the recognition that systems found in different species do this classifying differently. Matthen's account improves on his earlier "Disunity of Color" (1999). He says: