direct realism

what are sense experiences

those given to us by our senses

two branches of philosophies of perception

realists and idealists

direct realism argues

what we perceive through our senses are these very things - physical objects with various properties

two key features of direct realism: objects are ….

mind-independent and immediate objects of perception

why can we gain knowledge from perception

because perception is a kind of openness to the world

who created the table counter to direct realism

bertrand russell

whats the issue of the shiny brown table

might look simultaneously brown and white, depending on perspective, but it cannot be both

argument from perceptual variation

our perceptions may vary, these variations occur without changes in the physical object, there’s a difference in appearance and reality, what we are immediately aware of is different from what exists outside our minds

conclusion of the argument from perceptual variation

we do not perceive objects directly

what is a relational property (response to Russell’s argument)

a property that something only has in relation to something else

what does russell propose we are seeing directly

sense data

example of an illusion

a pencil looking crooked in water

what is the issue of illusions

they are subjectively indistinguishable from veridical perception

in illusions, what has the property *F* and what issue dies this cause

sense-data, illusions are indistinguishable from reality so we always perceive sense data

how do realists respond to illusions

claim that the ‘look’ of being crooked is different from being crooked, relational property

what is the challenge to direct realism from hallucinations

in hallucinations, something has the property F but we are perceiving nothing at all, still indistinguishable

what is the response for direct realists against hallucinations

disjunctive theory of perception

what does the disjunctive theory of perception argue

hallucinations are imagination/mental state, not perception

time lag argument

it takes time for things to get from objects to our senses, so we cannot perceive anything directly

response to the time lag argument

we don’t see light waves directly and objects indirectly; light waves are part of how we see our world