Can we perceive modal properties?

Abstract

Can we see only how things actually are, or are we also able to see how things could be? Much work in philosophy of perception assumes that our visual perceptual experience is restricted to the actual world: we cannot directly interact with nor consequently perceive other possible worlds. Contrary to this line of thought, this paper defends the claim that we can visually perceive modal properties. Those modal properties are represented in visual experience, contributing to both its content and phenomenology. I argue that this claim is supported by the phenomenology of our visual experience, the epistemic role it plays, and by empirical work in vision science. However, it is the theoretical gains for our understanding of visual objecthood that make the strongest case for allowing that modal properties feature in our visual experience.