Daniel Garcia Saavedra

In this paper, I argue that two plausible claims for olfactory experience, (i) that this modality is spatially indeterminate regarding the spatial location of what it presents and (ii) that whatever it presents, it is experienced as external to the perceiver’s body, are in conflict with one another. I argue that a satisfactory answer to this puzzle requires us to accept as part of olfactory phenomenology aspects of experience that do not obviously belong to olfactory experience. I claim that this ultimately leads to a modification of the idea that olfactory experience is spatially indeterminate.

Two celestial bodies stand between you and the sun at the same time. The smaller object (Near) is closer to you and is exactly under the shadow of the larger, more distant object (Far). What do you see? I argue that you see Far. However, I claim that you do not see any of Far’s proper parts. This is the simplest alternative because, unlike its competitors, it respects the idea that we simply see backlit objects without imposing upon it the logically independent idea that object perception entails part perception.