Perception as a source of knowledge: direct realism

Question 1

direct realism is the view that

Answer 1

the external world exists indepenently of thw mind and we percieve the external world directly

Question 2

what you see

Answer 2

is what you get

Question 3

these objects retain their properties indepedent of our minds

Answer 3

if you were to turn around and see a table when you turn around again it would still be there

Question 4

you look directly at an object

Answer 4

there is nothing inbetween when you see this. there is nothing mediating when you look at this

Question 5

direct realism rejects the notion

Answer 5

of sense data

Question 6

we immedaitley percive phsyical objects

Answer 6

these objects are mind-indepdent

Question 7

direct realism says

Answer 7

that the immediate objects of perception are mind indepedent objects and thier properites

Question 8

our senses detect properties of these obejcts

Answer 8

which exist in the world

Question 9

things are

Answer 9

as them seem

Question 10

also known as a

Answer 10

‘man on the street’ theory.

it’s a common sense theory. most non-philosphers hold this view

Question 11

in support of direct realism:

Answer 11

• it avoides scpeticism (it gvies us a clear view of how we got the knowledge we did)
• it shows how many people share the same expericnes with the universe. the majority of people see blue.

Question 12

issue 1: illusions (against direct realism)

Answer 12

• our senses can distort what happens in the world, so from time to time our perceptions are decieving us of what is actually there in the real world. e.g. a bent pencil in water.
• must conclude the immediate objects of perception cannot be material objects
• what the perciever is directly aware of (the bent straw) snd what is real (the straight straw) are distinct.
• you are not directly perceiving any mind-indepedent object

Question 13

response to the issue (from a direct realists pov)

Answer 13

Austin’s response (using pencil in water): we are perceiving refraction- refraction is a feature of the extneral world and not our minds. we percieve something mind-indepednent. we know the stick is not bent.
- the direct realist does say that it’s not the case that I am directly aware of anything disticnt from the physical object

You are directly aware of the real straw, but it appaers bent becuase of the circumstances. there is not another mediating thing inbetween, but is just the straws appearence

We shouldn’t take an illsiosn and call it an experience, it is just the appearnce of the straw

Question 14

issue 2: perceptaul variations (RUSSEL): against direct realism

Answer 14

the appearence of physical objects can vary depending on the situation they are in
The proerpties phyiscal objects and thier properites they appear to jave are not identical
-e.g. when looking at railway tracks they get smaller the further you move away, not actually getting smaller
- if our perception of an object can change without the corresponding objects changing, there is clearly a disnctionion between the mind-indepdent object and what is percieved
-table example: when light reflects of the table it is white. and when it doesn’t it is brown. cannot chose one colour over another, so this shows the table doesn’t actually have a colour. AND the shape of the table changes depending from what angle it is looked at.

Question 15

response to the perceptaul varation issue

Answer 15

direct realists can accept that objects may appear differntly to perceivers and yet insist they are still directly percieved
e.g with table and colour example- the way light reflects from its surface
- things can appear differntly to each indivudal- still direct;y percevig it
RELATIONAL properties: we perceive the properties an object has from that angle/distance

Question 16

issue 3: time lag argument

Answer 16

e.g you see lightning a few seconds before you hear thunder
- the light from the sun takes a certian amount of time to travel to earth: so when looking at sun you actually see it like it was 8 mins.
Russel argues that if something was going to happen to the sun, you wouldn’t know about it until 8 mins later. this means if what you are seeing may no longer exist, then you can not really be seeing it (so what we are seeing now is different)
therefore, we do NOT perecive objects from the percise moments they appear

Question 17

response to this issue

Answer 17

the time lag does’t mean we are seeing objects indirecltly, you just see the objects how they WERE.

there is a misunderstanding regarding what is meant by immediate: we are directly perveing the past. nothing about that chnages, it is jsut how far away (regarding time) we see it.

the perception is still direct

happens to everyhting as well, all objects experience a time lag

Question 18

issue 4: hallucinations (more extreme version than illusions)

Answer 18

occurs when a person percieves something that is not actually there,

often, the person is unable to distinguish thier halluncoiatin from a veridical (truthful) perception. the halluincations are (subjectively indistgusiable)

we sometimes percieve things that are just not there, however, it can feel as real as an ordinary perception.

Question 19

resposne to this issue

Answer 19

can be caused by some malfunction in the brain

they are a different mental state

they are not identical to veridical perceptions