Must naive realists be relationalists?

In this paper I argue that naive realism about perception can be upheld without a commitment to relationalism.

Abstract:

Relationalism maintains that perceptual experience involves, as part of its nature, a distinctive kind of conscious perceptual relation between a subject of experience and an object of experience. Together with the claim that perceptual experience is presentational, relationalism is widely believed to be a core aspect of the naive realist outlook on perception. This is a mistake. I argue that naive realism about perception can be upheld without a commitment to relationalism.

Maarten Steenhagen (2019). ‘Must naive realists be relationalists?’ European Journal of Philosophy, 27: 1002– 1015. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejop.12462