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We're very pleased to announce that David Kelley's ground-breaking treatise on epistemology, The Evidence of the Senses: A Realist Theory of Perception, is now available on Amazon as an ebook for the first time.
Later this year it will be made available in other online book stores and in print.
Book description:
In this highly original defense of realism, Atlas Society founder 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 for empirical 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.
David Kelley is the founder and chief intellectual officer of The Atlas Society. He is a professional philosopher, teacher, and best-selling author. After earning a PhD in philosophy from Princeton University in 1975, he joined the philosophy department of Vassar College, where he remained until 1984. He has also taught at Brandeis University as a Visiting Lecturer. Among his books are Unrugged Individualism: The Selfish Basis of Benevolence; The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand; and The Art of Reasoning, one of the most widely used logic textbooks in the country. With Roger Donway, he co-authored Laissez Parler: Freedom in the Electronic Media, a critique of government regulation. He is also the author of A Life of One's Own: Individual Rights and the Welfare State, a critique of the moral premises of the welfare state and defense of private alternatives that preserve individual autonomy, responsibility, and dignity.
About this project:
This republishing event is part of a larger project to digitize all key Atlas Society books, monographs, and booklets and to republish and promote them to new audiences. Special thanks go to Virginia Murr of Athena's Proof who has been an integral part of our project team, and who has digitized, updated, edited, and proofed all of the text. Special thanks are also due to our donors who have supported this important project.
Other books published as part of this project include:
This week the remaining 6 books in the project will be published, including the entire Objectivist Studies monograph series.
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