Against one Reason for Thinking that Visual Experiences have Representational Content

Forthcoming in Philosophical Perspectives, 2007 issue.

There is a widely held view in the philosophy of perception that visual experiences have representational content. One reason that I sometimes hear given in support of this view is that when something looks a certain way, it makes sense to ask whether or not it is the way it looks. I argue that this is not a good reason to think that visual experiences have representational content.