ABSTRACT
There is consensus within the chemosciences that olfactory perception is of the molecular structure of chemical compounds, yet within philosophical theories of smell there is little agreement about the nature of smell. This chapter critically assesses the current state of debate regarding smells within philosophy in the hopes of setting it upon firm scientific footing. The theories to be covered are: Naïve Realism, Hedonic Theories, Process Theory, Odor Theories and non-Objectivist Theories. The aforementioned theories will be evaluated based on their explanations of (a) the olfactory quality of a smell, (b) smells as distal entities, and (c) our experience of smells as intentional objects. The chapter concludes with a defense of Molecular Structure Theory that demonstrates its superiority in accounting for each of these three aspects of smell.
