The CEU Department of Philosophy cordially invites you to a talk by Eugen Fischer (University of East Anglia) on 'Philosophical Pictures and Secondary Qualities: The Roots of Sense-data' 5.00 PM, Tuesday, 20. March, Zrinyi 14, Room 412 Abstract The talk develops the Wittgensteinian notion of 'philosophical pictures' with the help of some notions adapted from cognitive linguistics and psychology, and explains how such pictures can drive us to adopt paradoxical doctrines in the absence of warrant. The account is developed in response to a puzzle about two of the most lastingly influential, if paradoxical doctrines of 17th century philosophy: the doctrine of secondary qualities and the sense-datum doctrine of perception to which it gave rise. The major arguments for these doctrines presuppose or even explicitly assume from the start the very doctrines they are meant to establish. Clearly, these doctrines were adopted prior to the arguments; these were formulated after the event to justify what appeared intuitively compelling. This raises the puzzling question the talk attempts to answer: Why did - and do - claims at odds with common sense appear intuitively compelling in philosophical reflection? Kriszta Biber Department Coordinator Philosophy Department Tel: 36-1-327-3806 Fax: 36-1-327-3072 E-mail: biberk(a)ceu.hu