Representationalism and Olfactory Valence

Bibliographic Data

ID21823051
AuthorsBłażej Skrzypulec (0000-0003-2780-5477, Jagiellonian University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume16
Issue1
Pages231-250
Publication date2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of Philosophy and Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1878-5158 • E-ISSN: 1878-5166
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s13164-023-00707-8
OpenAlexW4387264567
LanguageEN
References cited59

One of the crucial characteristics of the olfactory modality is that olfactory experiences commonly present odours as pleasant or unpleasant. Indeed, because of the importance of the hedonic aspects of olfactory experience, it has been proposed that the role of olfaction is not to represent the properties of stimuli, but rather to generate a valence-related response. However, despite a growing interest among philosophers in the study of the chemical senses, no dominant theory of sensory pleasure has emerged in the case of human olfaction. The aim of this paper is to develop an argument based on the way in which olfactory valence is neurally encoded; one that demonstrates an advantage of the indicative representational approach to olfactory valence over approaches that characterise valence in terms of desires or commands. The argument shows that it is plausible to understand olfactory valence, at least in part, in terms of indicative representations

Cognitive psychology · Cognitive science · Direct and indirect realism · Epistemology · Olfaction · Perception · Philosophy of mind · Pleasure · Sensory system · Chemistry · Multisensory perception and integration · Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research · Neuroscience · Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies · Philosophy · Psychology

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