Giulia Martina
Between 2015 and 2019, I have been a PhD student at Warwick, working in the philosophy of perception under the supervision of Matt Nudds. I have successfully defended my thesis in February 2020, and am now an Ernst Mach Grant researcher at the University of Salzburg. Previously, I studied philosophy at the University of Turin, writing both my BA and my MA theses in the philosophy of mind, under the supervision of Alberto Voltolini. I have been a visiting research student at the University of Oxford (supervisor: Mike Martin) the University of Toronto (supervisor: Mohan Matthen), and the University of Bochum.
Research
Among the topics I am interested in are the nature of perceptual appearances and perceivable properties, perceptual variation, illusions, the relation between perception and cognition, olfactory perception.
PhD Thesis
In my PhD thesis, I argue for an objectivist view of perceptual appearances. On this view, perceptual appearances are constituted by the objective and perceiver-independent properties of the things we perceive. This view has traditionally been dismissed on the grounds that it cannot explain the phenomena of perceptual variation and conflicting appearances. In order to defend objectivism against this line of argument, I discuss different strategies that allow us to account for different cases of perceptual variation: variations due to environmental factors, variations due to differences in the perceivers' sensitivities, illusory appearances. Finally, I focus on olfactory appearances as a case study and argue that objectivism can be successfully applied also to non-visual appearances.
Funding
CADRE Scholarship (Centre for Arts Doctoral Research Excellence, University of Warwick)
Teaching
At Warwick I have been a seminar leader for the undergraduate modules Philosophy of Mind, Meaning and Communication, History of Modern Philosophy, and Central Themes in Philosophy. I also have some experience with guest lectures on topics related to my research. I am an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
