Robert Pasnau, What Is Sound?  Philosophical Quarterly, Vol.49, July 1999

   Also re-read from the Magee handout pages 42-43, 56-57, 416-19.

1.  Do a little survey (one person is enough, preferably student or faculty) to see how close his or her thinking is to what Pasnau calls "our standard view."  For instance, ask these or similar questions:

a)  What is sound?        b)  Where is a sound, such as the bark of a dog, located?
c)  Does a sound, such as the bark of a dog, get louder as you move closer to the dog?  If “yes,” does that mean that the closer you are to the dog, the more loudly it is barking?

2.  What does Pasnau find wrong with the standard view?

3.  What is an “error theory” of hearing (or, of sound)?

4.  Clearly summarize Pasnau’s view of what sound is.

5.  Comment on whether or to what extent Pasnau is guilty of what Magee complains about in his comments on analytic philosophy.