The Evidence of the Senses now available for FREE ONLINE

I have GREAT NEWS for all Philosophy fans!!!

David Kelley‘s classic, The Evidence of the Senses, is now available on Scribd.com FOR FREE!  The Scribd platform allows you to search the book, share it with friends, print it, download it, read it online, copy and paste text from it, and comment or communicate with others reading the book.

About The Evidence of the Senses:
In this highly original defense of realism, David Kelley argues that perception is the discrimination of objects as entities, that the awareness of these objects is direct, and that perception is a reliable foundation forempirical knowledge. His argument relies on the basic principle of the “primacy of existence,” in opposition to Cartesian representationalism and Kantian idealism.

In the first part of the book, Kelley discusses the nature and validity of perception. He argues against classical sensationalist and modern computational theories, according to which perception involves inferences from sensory input. Unlike most realists, he also offers an in-depth consideration of the problems of perceptual relativity. His theory incorporates a key distinction between the object and the form in which it is perceived. This distinction provides insights into the status of phenomenal qualities, the nature of perceptual constancy, and the difference between primary and secondary qualities.

In the second part of the book, Kelley is concerned with the way we distinguish conceptual knowledge from perception. His theory of non-propositional justification shows how perceptual judgments are supported by the direct awareness of objects, and it allows a novel defense of empiricism.

An original and substantial contribution to the philosophical literature, this book will be invaluable to philosophers, psychologists, and anyone interested in the complex subject of perceptual theory.”

Read The Evidence of the Senses now >

Find more about Atlas Society and David Kelley’s work now >

On Consumerism, Sex, Advertising, and Human Nature

Peacock (Pavo cristatus), displaying his tail,...

“The Ferrari is exactly the same in the human context,” says evolutionary psychologistGad Saad, “as the peacock‘s tail is on the peacock.”

Saad is an evolutionary behavioral scientist at Concordia University and author of the book The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal about Human Nature, in which he argues that most consumer behavior can be explained by evolutionary psychology.  Watch his interview,

Reason.tv‘s Zach Weissmueller sat down with Saad to discuss why most Ferrari owners are men, whether or not advertising executives manipulate our minds, the strong political opposition to the evolutionary sciences from across the spectrum, and the evolutionary significance of Sir Mix-a-lot‘s “Baby Got Back.”

About 10 minutes. Interview by Zach Weissmueller. Shot by Sharif Matar; edited by Weissmueller.

Visit Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv’s YouTube Channel to receive automatic notifications when new material goes live.