Reality and Perception (Direct and Indirect Realism)

Question 1

What is Direct Realism?

Answer 1

The theory that we perceive mind-independent physical objects in the world around us in real time and their existence can be confirmed by our sensory perceptions.

Question 2

Briefly explain some arguments against Direct Realism.

Answer 2

• The argument of hallucination
  Distorted reality inhibits us from receiving reliable sense data.
• The argument of illusion
  Objects distorted properties allude us to the nature of reality and our experiences.
• The time-lag argument
  Takes time for our sensory organs to interpret data causing us to indirectly perceive objects that no longer exist due to a time lag.

Question 3

What is the argument of hallucination?

Answer 3

We perceive an object to have some property.
Therefore an object must contain that property.
In hallucination we perceive that object to no longer exist.
Therefore everything we perceive is merely sense data.

Question 4

What is Russell’s Relational Objects theory?

Answer 4

Objects contain physical properties that are independent of our minds and exist without requiring our perception.

However they also contain properties that rely on us perceiving them that are subjective such as a table looking brown. A colorblind person may see this differently to other people or the lighting could affect the colour meaning this isn’t a relational property.

Question 5

How might Russell’s theory be challenged?

Answer 5

Because of our ability to hallucinate and receive unreliable sense data because of neurological damage such as blindness or illnesses such as Schizophrenia, the information we are receiving may not be true.

Everyone’s sense data is collected in a marginally different way so it’s impossible to agree on a universal set of properties belonging to objects in the environment.

Question 6

What might someone say to support Russell’s theory?

Answer 6

That the majority of people can agree due to us all sharing roughly similar sense data capabilities causing a general consensus to exist on the properties of objects in the world.

Question 7

Outline the argument from illusion.

Answer 7

We perceive an object to have some property.
Therefore an object must have that property.
Illusions cause that object’s property to be altered.
Therefore everything we perceive is sense data.

Question 8

Outline the Time-Lag argument.

Answer 8

Light and sound waves take time to be perceived by our sensory organs.
There is a delay between our perception of objects and their existence.
We are perceiving objects that no longer exist.
Therefore we are only perceiving objects indirectly due to a time-lag.

Question 9

How might a Direct Realist respond to the Time-Lag argument?

Answer 9

They would say we are still directly perceiving those physical objects but there is merely a time-lag present. Because everybody is witnessing these objects with a time-lag it therefore negates it and means it becomes direct because nobody is seeing these objects without the time lag.

Question 10

How might a Direct Realist respond to the Argument From Hallucination?

Answer 10

They would say that the hallucination is an individual’s experience that involves a distorted reality which isn’t representative of the vast majority of people’s view where objects are being directly perceived.

Question 11

How might a Direct Realist respond to the Argument From Illusion?

Answer 11

Because everybody is experiencing the illusion it therefore becomes directly real as we experience it and not one individual’s subjective experience like a hallucination.

Also, illusions can be explained through scientific method for example we know why a pencil looks bent in water because it refracts the light. It could then be proposed that we aren’t really being alluded as we can explain the nature of these illusions causing them to no longer deceive our senses.

Question 12

Which argument: Hallucination or Illusion is stronger and why?

Answer 12

Hallucination is a stronger argument because it involves the object ceasing to exist entirely which is more impactful than the properties of an object being distorted in everyone’s view.

It is easier for a Direct Realist to argue against illusion than hallucination because the alteration of reality is more vivid making it tougher to counter argue.

Question 13

What is Indirect Realism?

Answer 13

IR proposes that we are indirectly perceiving mind-dependant physical objects and their qualities within our environment.

Question 14

What are Primary Qualities in IR?

Answer 14

They are measurable aspects of objects such as:

• Dimensions
• Weight
• Volume

These can be confirmed by using maths to verify their existence.

Question 15

Do Primary Qualities require a mind to exist?

Answer 15

No because there are no sensory aspects to them that require a mind to perceive them.

Question 16

What are Secondary Qualities in IR?

Answer 16

They are sensory qualities such as taste and smell that rely on the presence of a mind to perceive them.

These properties are mind-dependant and cannot exist without someone having their own sensory experience.

Secondary Qualities can’t be measured because they all exist within the mind of an individual meaning they can’t be easily translated to the outside world and recorded like PQ’s can.

Question 17

Outline the argument from Perceptual Variation.

Answer 17

There are variations in our perception
Our perception varies without corresponding to physical changes made to an object
The properties objects seem to have are not the same as what we perceive
What we are immediately aware of in perception is not relative to the physical properties of an object
Therefore we don’t perceive physical objects directly