Making Sense of Hallucination

Abstract

It can seem as if philosophy of perception has discussed hallucination almost more than perception itself. What is the difference between perception and hallucination? I argue that the concepts we normally associate with the term ‘hallucination’ are more useful for understanding what perception is than the concepts we normally associate with the term ‘perception’. Instead of claiming, as most theories do, that hallucination is a special type of (failed) perception, I instead argue that perception is a special type of (successful) hallucination. I introduce a concept called ‘S-hallucination’ and argue that it more accurately describes the process that we normally call perception. I defend this concept and situate it within classic debates in philosophy of perception.