Perception and Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell: (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)

How does perception give us access to external reality? This book critically engages with John McDowell’s conceptualist answer to this question, by offering a new exploration of his views on perception and reality in relation to those of Immanuel Kant and Edmund Husserl. In six chapters, the book examines these thinkers’ respective theories of perception, lucidly describing how they fit within their larger philosophical views on mind and reality. It thereby not only reveals the continuity of a tradition that underlies today’s fragmented scholarly landscape, but also yields a new critique of McDowell’s conceptualist theory. In doing so, the book contributes to the ongoing bridging of traditions, by combining analytic philosophy, Kantian philosophy, and phenomenology. Perception and Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell will appeal to scholars and students working in the history of philosophy, phenomenology, Kantian philosophy, and in particular the philosophy of perception.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Kant: Sensibility, Perception, Reality 2. Kant: Concepts, Deduction, Debates 3. Husserl: Intentionality, Consciousness, Nature 4. Husserl: Perception, Judgment, Habit 5. McDowell: Concepts, Perception, Debates 6. McDowell: Reasons, Nature, Reality

About the Author :
Corijn van Mazijk studied philosophy in Groningen and Leuven. He currently works as university lecturer and researcher at University of Groningen, Faculty of Philosophy. He recently published articles in Continental Philosophy Review, Human Studies, Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, and Southern Journal of Philosophy.

Review :
"One of the great merits of this great book is that its author skillfully navigates the thin line between weak and strong conceptualism by covering all three corpuses throughout without ever getting lost in unnecessary details. The book is short but sharp, rigorous but not overly ambitious or pretentious . . . All in all, Perception and Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell is a very interesting book." Maxime Doyon, Husserl Studies "Van Mazijk’s rich book does an excellent job of showing how the three authors work towards the same epistemological problems and have shared ambitions." Tony Cheng, Phenomenological Reviews "Corijn van Mazijk’s Perception and Reality in Kant, Husserl, and McDowell is a very clearly-written, well-argued,and critically fruitful contribution to The Debate." Robert Hanna, International Journal of Philosophical Studies "By authoring this book, van Mazijk has signi¿cantly contributed to important developments in contemporary philosophy. Through much of the twentieth century, the analytic and continental traditions in philosophy made little contact with each other, and much of analytic philosophy was historically uninformed. Nowadays, however, philosophy is becoming more sophisticated in these respects, and this is where van Mazijk comes in, with a book which successfully bridges the two traditions, and teaches important Kantian and Husserlian lessons to philosophers of today." Kristjan Laasik, Continental Philosophy Review