Thomas Reid and the Problem of Secondary Qualities

'Shrock uses Reid's ideas to defend direct realism against a serious objection - that the things we perceive have secondary qualities, such as colours and tastes, but these cannot be qualities of external things. Clearly and engagingly written, this book is exemplary both as exposition and interpretation of Reid and as philosophical problem solving.'
James Van Cleve, University of Southern California
How Thomas Reid saves Common Sense Realism from the Problem of Secondary Qualities
Common Sense disposes us to think that in perception we connect with the physical world around us. Philosophers call this view of perception Direct Realism. Contrary to this, the Problem of Secondary Qualities relegates colours, smells, sounds, tastes and heat to the subjective or mental realm because science offers no objective, physical place for them. From there, the Problem extends its reach, suggesting that we never perceive physical objects or their properties, at least not directly. Despite Common Sense's urgings, perceptual length, shape, weight and everything we seem to sense exists only in the mind.
The hero of this work is Thomas Reid, the father of Common Sense philosophy. With a new reading of Reid on primary and secondary qualities, Christopher A. Shrock illuminates his theory of perception. He follows Reid's lead in defending Common Sense against the Problem of Secondary Qualities, while maintaining a healthy optimism about science and reason. Along the way Shrock engages a historically wide range of thinkers, from early moderns to the present.
Christopher A. Shrock is Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio Valley University
Cover image: Rev. Thomas Reid (detail), Sir Henry Raeburn, 1796 © The Hunterian, University of Glasgow 2017
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ISBN 978-1-4744-1784-6
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Christopher A. Shrock is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio Valley University.