We are immediatelyaware of a mind-independent world and we directly perceive its qualities withoutintermediary. This means there exists an external world outside of our minds which continuestoexistevenif it is notbeingperceived.
Why does perceptual variation pose as a threat for direct realism?
Perceptual variation poses a threat to direct realism because it suggests that individuals can perceive the same object differently, which means we do not perceive.
What does Berkeley say about perceptual variation?
Used the example of clouds which appearred from a distanceand any numberofcoloursfromdifferentperspectives. According to Berkeley there is no real colour in the clouds and it is an effectmadeuponus by physical thingsrather than something in the object itself. Therefore we are directlyaware of somethingthatdoesnotexist in the real world so how could we perceive something that is not real.
Why is illusion an issue for direct realism?
An illusion occurs when something appears in a way that is contrary to how it is in reality. [ex- a pencil appears wonky in water but in reality the water makes no real change to the pencils shape.]Therefore, our senses are subject to illusions which means we are not actually directlyaware of real mind-independent qualities and since what we see can sometimes be contrarytoreality there seems to be a gapbetweenoursensesandreality.
Why are hallucinations an issue for direct realism?
A hallucination occurs when we see something that does not actually exist in the real world and is completely subject to the mind. Ex- Macbeth and the dagger. The fact that we can perceive things that do not actually exist raises questions about if we really perceive things directly. This shows that there is a discrepancy between our perception and the external world, we do not directly perceive the external world. Leads to scepticism as to whether there exists an external world.
What is a hallucination?
A non-veridical perceptual experience that is not coherently connected with the rest of our perceptual experience.
What is an illusion?
A distorted sense experience that means we perceivethings differently to how they really are.
Why is time lag an issue for direct realism?
The light from distant objects (such as the sun) takestimetoreachoureyes.
So whatweareseeing now maynolongerexist.
so what we are seeing and whatistherearedifferent
This is no less true for physical objects at any distance. And so, what we directly see are appearancesnot the physical objects, and direct realism is false.