Perception Flashcards
What is direct realism?
We perceive objects directly. These objects occupy space and are mind independent. They continue to exist even when we are not perceiving them.
What is the issue with perceptual variation for direct realists? (Russell)
Looking at things from different distances or angles can make them appear different. E.g. Through a microscope a table will appear rough but to the naked eye it is smooth. This means that colour is not objective, and we must be experiencing something other than the object - sense data.
How does direct realism counter the issue of perceptual variation?
The science of optics explains why we have perceptual variation. So while a table may appear to be different colours, it is always brown.
What is the issue of illusion for direct realists?
What we immediately perceive cannot be how the world really is because in the case of illusions, what we perceive isn’t how something really is. For example; pencil in water appears bent. This means we are not perceiving how the world is.
How does direct realism counter the issue of illusion?
When perceiving illusions our senses are accurately revealing the world to us but we misinterpret what we perceive. Normally we are not fooled by the way water reflects light differently, we have just misinterpreted the information received by our eyes.
What is the issue of hallucinations for direct realism?
When I am hallucinating I am experiencing something that isn’t really there. Since what I am experiencing doesn’t actually exist in the real world, but is indistinguishable from a genuine experience, we are not directly aware of things.
How does direct realism counter the issue of hallucination?
If we truly couldn’t detect hallucinations, then we would remain unaware that we were ever subject to them.
However, Descartes points out that dreams are often indistinguishable from real life, we could be dreaming right now and would be unaware.
What is the issue of time lag for direct realism?
Any light that is reflecting from an object takes time to reach our eyes. Therefore, we are never truly experiencing objects as they are at the time we see them. Therefore, we aren’t experiencing things directly.
How does direct realism counter the issue of time lag?
Although there is a lag in perception, we are perceiving how it was directly, there is nothing between our senses and the object.
What is indirect realism?
We perceive objects through sense data. However, these objects are mind independent and continue to exist even when we aren’t perceiving their sense data.
What is the distinction between primary and secondary qualities?
Primary qualities exist independently of us perceiving them, whereas secondary qualities require a perceiving mind.
Primary = inseperable
Secondary = causes sensations and subjective
Why is scepticism a problem for indirect realism?
How can we determine how well our perception of the world resembles the actual world when we are not directly experiencing it? For all we know, the real object could be very different to how we view it, or might not even exist.
How would an indirect realist respond to the problem of scepticism?
We have survived so our representation of the world must be fairly accurate. Our senses have evolved to give us an accurate representation if the world as it is. Additionally, people perceive the world in roughly the same way as I do, this means we have some evidence that the world is how it appears.
Explain Locke’s defence against scepticism - The lack of choice over our experiences.
Sensations force themselves upon me, I have no choice in what I experience. This means that there is something external to me causing these sensations.
Explain Locke’s defence against scepticism - The coherence of various senses
It is possible for one or two senses to be deceived, but for three or four, it would be unlikely. If four people claimed to see the same person robbing a bank, it would be likely that this is the truth. For practical purposes, we must suppose that the external world is real as it is on the basis that we must live our lives and on which our well being depends.
