Our sensory experiences make up the fabric of our worlds.

It's a fabric that keeps us warm, a fabric that makes the world worth living in.

If you couldn't hear the cry of your newborn child,

if you couldn't taste your grandfather's famous Brussels sprouts at Christmas,

or feel the embrace of your lifelong partner, then your life wouldn't just include less

experiences, but less meaning. Given the value we place on our sensory experiences, it seems

important that we understand the nature of them. What is happening exactly when we hear, taste,

and feel?

What are sensory experiences made of?

In this episode, we'll be exploring the nature of sensory phenomenology with Dr. Laura Gao,

lecturer in philosophy at the University of Liverpool.

Formerly of Warwick University, Cambridge University, and the University of Antwerp,

Dr. Gao, whose work focuses on the philosophy of perception and the metaphysics of consciousness is one of the UK's leading phenomenologists.

From hallucinations and colour to empty space and silence, Laura's research covers a broad range of topics,

but in this episode we'll be focusing on transparency. According to the transparency

view, when we undergo a perceptual experience, the only properties we're aware of are located externally.

There are no perceptual properties, says Gao, inside of us, despite what it may seem.

Thank you. what it may seem. Hello and welcome to episode 115 of the PanseICAST, experiencing the absence of my wallet.

Hey, wait, give my back.

I'm Jack Symes, and it seems that I'm joined once again by the man who looks great in a pair of blur-inducing glasses.

It's Mr. Olly Marley.

Hello.

...