IWA #3 - Philosophy Flashcards
What is the difference between sensory perception and cognitive perception according to Dretske (1990)?
Sensory perception refers to object-vision, while cognitive perception (fact-vision) involves knowing facts about what is seen. It is possible to object-see something without fact-seeing it.
Provide an example which illustrates that one can object-see without fact-seeing?
A child sees a cat but mistakes it for an old sweater, failing to recognize it as a cat, even though they see it.
According to Susan Hurley’s “Classical Sandwich” model, how is the mind related to its environment?
The mind is distinct from the environment, but interacts with it through two interfaces: input (perception) and output (action).
What is the argument against using Nozick’s experience machine?
Nozick argues that people should not plug into the experience machine because it limits us to a man-made reality, and we want genuine experiences and to be a certain kind of person, not just to feel as though we are.
What is the brain-in-a-vat (BIV) hypothesis?
It suggests that one could be a brain in a vat, experiencing simulated reality via a computer, making it impossible to know whether one’s perceptions are genuine or artificially created.
What does “The Grand Illusion” in perception suggest?
It suggests that our visual experiences seem much more complete and accurate than they actually are, as our brain fills in gaps in the visual input, like blind spots or missing details.
What is the idea of “Phenomenal Red”?
It questions whether different people may experience colors differently in subjective, private ways, such that one person may see red differently from another, even though they both call it “red.”
Does Mary learn anything new when she leaves the room?
Frank Jackson argues that she would learn something new, what it feels like to see red. Generalizing this to the mind, Jackson argues that a completely objective, physical
account of the mind will always be incomplete.
Dretske - Ventral/Dorsal connection?
object vision - dorsal stream?
fact vision - ventral stream?
Explain direct vs. indirect realism
🧠 Direct Realism – We perceive the world as it is, without intermediaries. Objects exist independently of perception.
🔍 Indirect Realism – We perceive the world through mental representations formed by sensory input, allowing for illusions and errors.
Explain indirect vs. direct realism according to Dretske.
