Topic summary / notes on direct realism for AQA A Level Philosophy paper 1 epistemology section. These notes were made according to the layout of the specification and were largely helpful as part of my studies for which I received an A* in 2021.
DIRECT REALISM
The immediate objects of perception are mind-independent objects and their
properties.
o External world – mind-independent.
o Perception method – direct.
Issue: illusion Direct realism says we perceive the external world directly as it
is. But illusions are situations where reality (external world)
differs from our perception of it. For example, when a pencil is
placed in a glass of water, we perceive it as crooked. But it is
not really crooked.
If direct realism is true, then the external world would be
exactly as we perceive it. However, with illusions, there is an
obvious difference between reality and our perception of it.
This suggests that we are not perceiving directly and, hence,
that direct realism is false.
1. When subject to an illusion, an object appears to a
perceiver to have a specific property (a pencil appears
crooked).
2. The perceiver is directly aware of this apparent property
(a pencil that looks crooked).
3. But the object does not have this property in reality (the
pencil is not actually crooked).
4. So what the perceiver is directly aware of (crooked
pencil) and what is real (straight pencil) is distinct.
5. So direct realism is false.
Response to The direct realist could respond that the pencil has the
illusion: relational property of looking crooked, relational to the water
it is being perceived through, rather than being sense data. We
can articulate this claim more scientifically by discussing how
the crookedness of the straw is relational upon the physics of
refraction and vision. We just directly perceive a different
property in an illusion, a relational property.
Issue: Challenges direct realism – example of differences between
perceptual reality and our perception of it.
variation Russell’s example: From one spot, a shiny wooden table may
appear to have a white spot where light is reflecting off it. But
we know that the table doesn’t really have a white spot on it.
So again, this example suggests a distinction between reality
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