Experiential Content and Naive Realism: A Reconciliation

This chapter argues that Naïve Realism is compatible with experiential content. First, it distinguishes three interpretations of the claim that experience has content (the Mild, Medium, and Spicy Content Views). Second, it elaborates Naïve Realism and reconstructs the main argument for its incompatibility with the Content Views. Third, it suggests that existing arguments for the Mild Content View are sound but unlikely to persuade Naïve Realists, and it develops another argument that is more dialectically effective. Finally, the chapter identifies a flaw in the argument for the incompatibility of Naïve Realism and experiential content, which opens the door to a reconciliation of the former with all three Content Views.