Objective smells and partial perspectives
The thesis that smells are objective and independent of perceivers may seem to be in tension with the phenomenon of perceptual variation. In this paper, I argue that there are principled reasons to think that perceptual variation is not a threat to objectivism about smells and is instead integral to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Rosenberg & Sellier
2021-12-01
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| Series: | Rivista di Estetica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/estetica/8535 |
| _version_ | 1797223413632204800 |
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| author | Giulia Martina |
| author_facet | Giulia Martina |
| author_sort | Giulia Martina |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The thesis that smells are objective and independent of perceivers may seem to be in tension with the phenomenon of perceptual variation. In this paper, I argue that there are principled reasons to think that perceptual variation is not a threat to objectivism about smells and is instead integral to our perceptual relation to the objective world. I first distinguish various kinds of perceptual variation, and argue that the most challenging cases for the objectivist are those where an odourant smells different in different conditions or to different perceivers but the odourant does not change, and there is neither misperception nor a simple failure to perceive a smell. I then argue that there is an independently plausible conception of olfactory experience on which even these challenging cases do not pose a threat to objectivism about smells. Following Kalderon’s work in the domain of colour perception, I argue that olfactory perception provides us with a partial perspective on the smells around us, where this perspective is constrained by the conditions of perception as well as by features of the perceiver. Within this framework, we can allow that perceivers with different sensitivities, or the same perceiver in different conditions, genuinely perceive the same objective smell even though this smell appears different to them. In turn, smells are best understood as qualitatively complex entities, different aspects of which can become perceptually available in different conditions and to different perceivers. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:36:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c6bb0adfe77947a8a741be887e2c4fc7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0035-6212 2421-5864 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:36:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
| publisher | Rosenberg & Sellier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Rivista di Estetica |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6bb0adfe77947a8a741be887e2c4fc72024-04-04T09:21:54ZengRosenberg & SellierRivista di Estetica0035-62122421-58642021-12-0178274610.4000/estetica.8535Objective smells and partial perspectivesGiulia MartinaThe thesis that smells are objective and independent of perceivers may seem to be in tension with the phenomenon of perceptual variation. In this paper, I argue that there are principled reasons to think that perceptual variation is not a threat to objectivism about smells and is instead integral to our perceptual relation to the objective world. I first distinguish various kinds of perceptual variation, and argue that the most challenging cases for the objectivist are those where an odourant smells different in different conditions or to different perceivers but the odourant does not change, and there is neither misperception nor a simple failure to perceive a smell. I then argue that there is an independently plausible conception of olfactory experience on which even these challenging cases do not pose a threat to objectivism about smells. Following Kalderon’s work in the domain of colour perception, I argue that olfactory perception provides us with a partial perspective on the smells around us, where this perspective is constrained by the conditions of perception as well as by features of the perceiver. Within this framework, we can allow that perceivers with different sensitivities, or the same perceiver in different conditions, genuinely perceive the same objective smell even though this smell appears different to them. In turn, smells are best understood as qualitatively complex entities, different aspects of which can become perceptually available in different conditions and to different perceivers.https://journals.openedition.org/estetica/8535smellperceptionolfaction |
| spellingShingle | Giulia Martina Objective smells and partial perspectives Rivista di Estetica smell perception olfaction |
| title | Objective smells and partial perspectives |
| title_full | Objective smells and partial perspectives |
| title_fullStr | Objective smells and partial perspectives |
| title_full_unstemmed | Objective smells and partial perspectives |
| title_short | Objective smells and partial perspectives |
| title_sort | objective smells and partial perspectives |
| topic | smell perception olfaction |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/estetica/8535 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT giuliamartina objectivesmellsandpartialperspectives |