Direct realism

• Sense-data

  Mind-dependant object whose existence and properties are known directly to us in perception.

  • What we're immediately aware of when seeing it
  • How things appear to us
  • Anything we perceive
• Perceptual variation

  When we see the world differently due to how we see it, rather than the object changing. For example, the colour of the table depends on the light in the room and where you're standing in relation to the table.
• Russell's example of perceptual variation 


  • What we perceive isn't exactly what exists
  • E.g; a shiny brown table doesn't look the same colour all over.
  • There is a different between perception and reality.
  • What we perceive directly isn't the physical object and its properties
• Perceptual variation is an issue for direct realism as it shows that what we perceive isn't directly what the physical object is. Things can look different depending on how we see them.
• Veridical perception

  The direct perception of a stimuli as they exist. They accurately mirror how things are in the world.
• The time lag argument, against direct realism

  It takes time for light, sounds & smells to get to our sense organs. Everything we see is slightly in the past. We aren't directly seeing physical objects.

  E.g: if the sun explodes we wouldn't know until 8 minutes after. We see everything in the past.

  We're always perceiving physical objects indirectly so it isn't direct realism
• Direct realist response to argument of time lag

  This issue arguably confuses what we perceive with how we perceive it. Yes, 👍 we perceive objects via light 🕯️ and sound waves which take time to travel 🧳 through space 🌌. However, we are still perceiving the mind-independent object, just how it was moments ago 😞, not how it is now
• Perceptual variation, issue with direct realism 


  What we perceive isn't always directly what's there

  E.g: Russell's example. Looking at a shiny brown table. It doesn't look the same colour all over. Depending on where you look at the table from it could look a different colour in the same place

  This challenges perceptual variation as not everything we perceive is necessarily reality
• Direct realist response to argument of perceptual variation

  It's not just what you see, but the object's relational properties, the properties of the object do not change but the perceived changes. With Russell's table example, the table has the mind-independent property of appearing kite 🪁 shaped to some perceivers and square ⬜ to other perceivers, you perceive one of these properties depending on where you are
• Argument of illusion, issues with direct realism

  When the object doesn't have the physical property we observe.

  E.g: a pencil in a glass of water appears crooked, this is not the actual qualities of the pencil

  Just from what you experience, you don't know it's an illusion. It looks crooked , so with direct realism how is it not? If we directly perceive the external world 🌎
• Direct realist response to illusion

  Argument of relational properties,

  The pencil ✏️ has the relational property of appearing crooked to certain perceivers
• Arguement of hallucination, issue with direct realism 


  When you see or hear something that you think is real but doesn't really exist

  E.g. if someone is ill 🤧 or has taken drugs, they may perceive a goblin 👺 on their sofa, however, there is not a goblin in reality. -how can we be perceiving something that clearly doesn't exist in reality? According to direct realists it must be real, but we know it isn't
• Direct realist response to argument of hallucination 


  In hallucination, we're not actually perceiving something but in fact imagining it. We're not mentally perceiving something or using cognitive contact so it's not actually perception
• Direct realism is the view 🪟 that the external world 🌍 exists mind-independently and we perceived the external world directly

  What you see 🙈 is exactly what exists 😁

  If you perceive a tree 🌴 🌲 you are directly perceiving the tree how it exists in the world 🌎 and it's properties