Indirect Realism Flashcards
Define indirect realism
The view that the immediate or direct objects of perception are sense data and that the physical world is perceived only indirectly through sense data
Explain indirect realism
- We are directly aware of sense data in perception
- Sense data are immediate objects of perception that we are directly aware of
- For example, when perceiving a banana what I actually sense is a collection of sense data
- For example the distinctive yellow colour of the banana and its crescent shape
- We make judgement about the nature of the physical world on the basis of immediate awareness of sense data
- On the basis of my awareness of this sense data of the yellow colour and crescent shape I know I am perceiving a banana
- In this way we build up a picture of the physical world
- Therefore all empirical knowledge can rest on the foundation of sense data
Scepticism about the existence of the external world(criticism)
•We can only have direct access to our own sensations
•Sense data can act as a “veil” between us and the world
•We cannot peer beyond the veil or perception to perceive the world as it really is
•However if we cannot penetrate the veil of perception then we would not know what the world is really like
•If we could not penetrate the veil of perception we would also not know that the real world exists at all
•This would lead to an unsatisfactory position and trap of solipsism
•This is the belief that everything I experience is a product of my mind and there is no reality beyond my mind
•This would suggest there is nothing real in the common sense meaning of reality
•Furthermore this strongly goes against our most basic intuitions that the world exists- which is unsatisfactory
•Alternatively, we can suggest that something else is causing our sensations
•However you cannot use other people to verify your senses and independent physical objects
•This is because verification from other humans also
relies on sense data
•Therefore we cannot be certain that there is a physical world
The external world is the best hypothesis(Reply 1)
- Russell argues that we can justify belief in the external world as the best hypothesis
- I can explain why the apparent banana I hid in a drawer can be found again when I return to it
- This is because bananas exist as independent objects
- I see it again because bananas are made of matter and continues to exist whilst no one is perceiving it
- This is proved as when I come back to the banana after a few days I may find it to be rotten
- The existence of the external physical world shows the banana continued to exist while I did not perceive it
- Bananas rot even when no one is there to perceive them
- Therefore we can still still believe in the external world
Coherence of the various senses(Reply 2)
- We can both see and feel the banana
- The agreement between both senses suggest there is some object independently stimulating both senses
- It is possible for one or two senses to be fooled by an illusion
- It is extremely likely that more than 2 senses could be fooled
- If 4 different independent people claimed to see the same person rob the bank we would be assured that they told the truth
- However it is normal to be aware of objects with different sense in a dream
- Locke recognizes that he cannot give a conclusive proof of the external world
- However he believes that we can suppose the external work as the best explanation of our experience
Lack of choice over experience(Reply 3)
- Sensory experiences cannot be controlled in the way remembered experiences can
- I can conjure the image of a banana in my head
- However I cannot choose not to taste a banana while it is in my mouth
- Therefore I cannot control what sensations I have
- This suggests that something external to me produces my sensations
- Locke points out that dreaming of being in a fire is very different to being in a fire
- The reality is more vivid
- However this does not refute the possibility that the pain of the fire is part of the extended dream
Scepticism about the nature of the external world(criticism)
- It is plausible to be sceptical of our perception of whether the world we experience resembles the world that causes our experience
- Berkeley shows that primary qualities are mind-dependent therefore indirect realism is unsatisfactory
- Could the banana in reality be different not in terms of colour but in terms of shape?
- To determine how accurate our perception of the world is we have to compare our representations of it in our minds with the world as it is in reality
- The only way we can do this is to escape our minds and adopt a ‘God’s eye’ point of view
- However this is impossible
- We cannot escape the prison of our own mind to discover the accuracy of our sensations
- Due to this, we have a veil of perception
- For example, 2 people seeing bent bananas only tells us about the way humans see bananas
- This does not tell us about the true nature about how bananas are
Define private space
What we are immediately aware of within the mind which consists of sense data
Sense-data tells us of relations between objects(reply 1)
- We can propose that there is an external physical world causing our sense data
- Therefore we can accept that our experience represents that external world if there’s something physical that exists in space
- Private space is what we are immediately aware of within the mind which consists of sense data
- The shapes we perceive and relative distances between objects vary between different individual’s private spaces
- However there is a correspondence (resemblance) between our private spaces and physical spaces
- Therefore we can make reliable judgements about the shapes and relative position of real objects
How does Russell distinguish between private time and public time(reply 1 extended)
1.Each of us is immediately aware of ‘our feeling of duration’
2.In other words we are aware of how time appears to subjectively pass
3.For example time will pass faster if we are having fun
4.There is an objective or public time outside of the mind
5.This public time is related to the subjective experience of duration
6.We make judgements about the sequence of events based on our immediate awareness of our private times
7.However we do not make judgements based on the real time in which physical objects exist
8.For example you see two objects have the same colour under the same viewing conditions
9.We can infer that both objects have something in common
10.We can extend the point to all primary and secondary qualities
•Therefore the relation between physical objects in time and space and various types of similarity
•(For example colour)
•Correspond to relations between sense-data in these same respects
Explain Primary and secondary qualities (reply 2)
Lock introduces various differences between primary and secondary qualities to suggest that these qualities produce sensations within us, further suggesting that sense data exists and allows us to perceive physical objects indirectly:
•Physical objects have certain primary qualities
•These qualities include shape,motion, size and position
•We also seem to perceive objects to have a set of secondary qualities
•These qualities include colour,sound and smell
•However these qualities are not within the objects themselves
•Instead they have powers to produce sensations within us
•These powers are a product of the arrangement of the parts of the object which are too small to observe
•Our perception gives us an accurate picture of the size, shape and position of objects
•Our perception of colour, smells and sounds do not
•These are imperfect representations of the secondary qualities which cause them
What are the main aspects of primary qualities
- Primary qualities are mathematically quantifiable and can be described geometrically
- Primary qualities are coherent with many senses
- I can see and touch the shape of an apple
- However I cannot taste or hear the redness of an apple
- Therefore primary qualities must have a real existence independent of sense organs and so are independent of perceievers
- Sense data resembles the world in respect to primary qualities but not secondary qualities
- They accurately resemble an objects real qualities
What are the main aspects of secondary qualities
•Locke states that we are aware of secondary qualities due to corpuscular physics
•This describes how the nature of particles and properties of atoms combine to form secondary qualities
•For example, colour shape and smell
•In other words, secondary qualities are micro structures of imperceptible atoms
•These atoms possess the properties of size, solidity and shape
•They are ‘powers in the object to produce certain sensations in the perceiver’
•This means that they are dependent on perceivers by definition
In comparison to primary qualities:
•They are only accessible by one sense
• E.g I can only see a colour but I cannot hear a colour)
•They do not accurately resemble the object but are my mental interpretation of the object
•E.g the banana’s yellow appearance does not resemble the banana itself but only how it appears in my mind
•They are difficult to measure in geometric terms
•E.g I cannot measure the smell or taste of a banana in a quantifiable and precise way
Problems arising from the view that mind-dependent objects represent and are caused by mind independent objects
1.Locke claims that secondary qualities are different in reality from how they appear to us
2.However primary qualities in the object resemble our experience of them
3.Berkeley states that sense data are always changing
4.Therefore sense data cannot resemble a physical object which is fixed and constant
5.For example circles do not look circular when viewed from an angle
6.Instead they look oval
7.This lack of resemblance applies to primary and secondary qualities-even primary qualities change depending on percievers too
8.Russell’s argument require that our minds are casually affected by physical objects
9.These objects causally affect our sense organs which then affect our brain
10.However this provokes the question:
•How can something physical and mind-independent cause an idea in a mind?
