Direct realism

• P1. There are variations in perception.

  P2. Our perception varies without corresponding changes in the mind-independent object we perceive. (For instance, the table remains rectangular, even as the way it looks to me changes as I look it from different angles.)

  C1. Therefore, the mind-dependent object and our perceptions of it are different. 

  C2. Therefore, what we are immediately aware of in perception is something mind-dependent (sense data) and some properties do not ‘belong’ to the object. 
• hallucination P1. In a hallucination, we perceive something having some property F.

  P2. When we perceive something having property F, then there is something that has this property.

  P3. We don’t perceive a physical object at all.

  C1. Therefore, what we perceive must be mental- sense data 

  P4. Hallucinations can be experiences that are ‘subjectively indistinguishable’ from veridical perceptions.

  C2. Therefore, in all cases, we see sense data and not physical objects immediately.

  C3. Therefore, direct realism is false. 
• Direct realism is sometimes called the ‘common sense’ view of perception. It is the theory that we perceive objects directly and that there is nothing in between the perceiver and the object other than public space. Objects exist when unperceived, independently of the perceiver. All properties are contained within the object itself. The objects themselves are coloured, have smells and tastes and sound as well as shape and size. Physical objects are mind-independent meaning they exist outside the mind.