4:04 p.m.
We are pleased to announce that on Friday June 2 at 18:00 (CET), Achille Varzi (Columbia
University) will give the talk 'Sartrean Experiences and Absence Perception' as
part of the Lugano Philosophy Colloquia.
This hybrid talk will take place in Room SI-003 Black Building (USI West Campus) and
online via Zoom. If you are interested in joining it online, please write to
amm.map@usi.ch<mailto:amm.map@usi.ch>
Here is the abstract of the talk:
Can we really perceive absences? Sartre tells us that when he arrived late for his
appointment at the café, he saw the absence of his friend Pierre. Is that really what he
saw? Where was it, exactly? How did Sartre manage to see it? Why did Sartre not see the
absence of other people who weren’t there? Why did other people who were there not see the
absence of Pierre? The perception of absences gives rise to a host of conundrums and is
constantly on the verge of conceptual confusion.
Here I focus on the need to be clear about four sorts of distinctions: (i) the difference
between perceiving an absence and perceiving something that is absent; (ii) the difference
between perceiving an absence and an absence of perceiving; (iii) the difference between
perceiving an absence and perceiving something as an absence; and (iv) the difference
between perceiving an absence and perceiving that something is absent. I conclude by
stressing the need for a fifth, crucial distinction: the difference between the perception
of an absence and an absence perception.
For more information: https://www.usi.ch/en/feeds/24839