Visual experience: A semantic approach

This book uses semantic considerations to develop a metaphysical theory of the nature of the character of visual experience. By developing a theory of what we mean by the ‘look’ sentences that we use to describe the characters of our visual experiences, it develops a theory of what it is to have a visual experience with a certain character. The theory turns out to be an adverbial theory: for every character c there is a way of occurring w such that to have a visual experience with character c is to have a visual experience that is occurring in way w. There are various problems faced by adverbial theories; the book proposes solutions to these problems, drawing heavily upon particular features of the theory, especially upon its understanding of ways of occurring and the relations between them. There are various other phenomena that a theory of the character of visual experience ought to allow for and, even better, be able to explain; the book considers the extent to which the theory developed can allow for and explain them.