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Perception - Coggle Diagram
Perception
Indirect Realism
the belief that there are physical objects in the external world but that there is a third term between the perceiver and the perceived which is labeled sense-data. physical objects make us aware of the sense-data which represent the external object
this explains perceptual variation as it demonstrates how an object can appear different from different positions because we are not immediately aware of the object itself, but rather the sense-data and how it appears to us
criticism - if we only perceive representations of reality, it becomes difficult to prove the existence of an external world and mind-independent objects
despite there being no way to prove whether mind-dependent objects exist or not, the best hypothesis is that they do (Russel)
we don't choose to experience things, experience is involuntary therefore there must be some external source for sense-data (argument made by Locke and Cockburn)
criticism by Berkeley- we cannot know the nature of mind-independent objects because mind-dependent ideas cannot be like mind-independent objects
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Direct Realism
the belief that the external world is exactly as we perceive it and that all objects exist independently to our minds
the argument from illusion: optical illusions affect the way we perceive things and challenges direct realism by arguing that maybe things are different depending on how we perceive them
a criticism for this argument is that perhaps the object and the way we perceive it is affected by other objects, for example a straw in a glass is affected by the water
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the argument from perceptual variation: objects look different depending on the angle, light, or position (an example is a brown desk that can look white from one angle due to light but brown from another angle) therefore 2 people can perceive one object differently
the argument from dreams: dreams can be incredibly vivid and are mind-dependant, it can also be difficult to tell dreams from reality therefore causing doubt and because one can doubt, one cannot know whether there is a mind-independent world that we perceive which debunks direct realism as an acceptable theory of perceptual experiences
the argument from hallucination: when hallucinating you experience mind-dependent hallucinations that can be indistinguishable from the external world, so how can one tell what is a hallucination and what is reality?
we can realise when we are hallucinating, for example in Macbeth, Macbeth realises he is hallucinating a dagger
the time lag argument: light takes 8 minutes to reach Earth therefore we see the sun 8 minutes in the past. if the sun blew up, it would take 8 minutes for us to see it therefore proving that how we perceive things may not be reality as there is a time lag
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Sense-data = what we are immediately aware of in perception, for example colour or shape. What we directly perceive are not physical objects but rather just sense-data
The evil demon theory = created by Descartes, the theory states that it is possible that we are being controlled by an evil demon tricking us into believing the false is true therefore leading us to not being able to find truth in anything if this is a possibility