The Measurement of Sensation

The Measurement of Sensation: A Critique of Perceptual Psychophysics by C. Wade Savage is a bold rethinking of one of psychology’s oldest problems: how, if at all, we can measure subjective perception. For over a century, psychophysics has sought to define precise mathematical laws relating physical stimuli to psychological experiences—loudness to sound intensity, brightness to light frequency, pain to tissue disturbance. Savage argues that this traditional framework rests on conceptual confusion, blurring the line between sensations and measurable dimensions of the physical world. Through sustained critique of canonical figures from Fechner to Stevens, he dismantles assumptions about “just noticeable differences,” ratio scales, and perceptual magnitudes, showing why efforts to quantify the private world of sensation are philosophically and scientifically untenable.

Rather than proposing new methods to capture elusive inner states, Savage dissolves the very problem of psychophysical measurement. He demonstrates that dimensions like loudness, pitch, and brightness should not be treated as psychological properties of sensation, but as physical attributes of sounds and lights that can be measured with the same rigor as length or weight. This reframing exposes the limits of classical and modern psychophysics while pointing toward a more coherent science of perception, one focused on observable abilities and responses rather than introspective magnitudes. A landmark in the philosophy of psychology, the book offers both a devastating critique of inherited assumptions and a constructive reorientation for future research in perception, measurement theory, and epistemology.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1970.