epistemology

• Idealism


  Based on the notion that all our experience is of mental representation rather than of the world
• An idealist would argue that objects only exist when they're being perceived
• All we can ever know about is our experiences
• Repeated patterns of sensory experiences prove that objects reportedly exist
• "To exist is to be perceived"

  Bishop Berkeley's view
• Real existing objects are those that have repeated patterns of sensory information and have all 5 sense-experiences related to each other
• Solipsism


  Belief that everything exists only in one's own mind
• Causal realism


  Assumes the causes of our sense experience are physical objects in the external world
• According to causal realism, when I see my guitar, light rays reflected from the guitar cause certain effects on my retina and brain, leading to me acquiring beliefs about what I'm seeing
• The appropriate causal link for seeing is that brought about by the object reflecting light rays onto my retina and the subsequent processing in my brain
• Causal realism assumes there is a real external world that continues to exist whether or not it is being experienced
• Causal realism assumes the beliefs we acquire through our senses are generally true due to natural selection