• wednesday, 10 february 2021—16:00

    Online seminar: Blindsight is unconscious vision

    Matthias Michel, New York University

    https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88393819615?pwd=dm9uT29OMlpocGozYVU1Wmc1NXo2UT09

    Meeting ID: 883 9381 9615
    Passcode: yG56WP

    Blindsight patients can perform visual tasks above chance in conditions in which they report no visual experience of the relevant visual features. The orthodox interpretation of this phenomenon is that blindsight behavior is explained by unconscious perception. The heterodox interpretation is that blindsight performance depends on qualitatively degraded, non-reported conscious perception. In this talk, I defend the orthodox view against Phillips' Qualitatively Degraded Conscious vision (QDC) account, which is the most recent incarnation of the heterodox view. First, I surmise that the classical arguments in favor of the orthodox view still hold. Second, I argue that evidence taken as supporting the heterodox view is either negligibly weak or consistent with the orthodox view.

    external seminar