| Front | Back | | --- | --- | | What is direct realism, and what is its core claim about the objects of perception? | Direct realism (naive realism) holds that perception gives us unmediated access to the external world. The objects of perception are physical things themselves, not mental representations or sense data. | | How does the argument from illusion challenge direct realism? | If physical objects can appear differently than they are (e.g., a straight stick looking bent in water), we cannot be directly aware of things as they are. This shows perception does not always give unmediated access to reality. | | What is indirect realism, and what does it claim we actually perceive? | Indirect realism (representationalism) claims we never perceive external objects directly. Instead, we perceive mental representations (sense data, ideas, or percepts) that are caused by external objects. | | How does John Locke's distinction between primary and secondary qualities support indirect realism? |

Primary qualities (shape, size) belong to the physical objects themselves.
Secondary qualities (color, sound) are mind-dependent constructions produced in us by primary qualities.

This division shows our conscious experience is mediated rather than direct. | | Explain the veil of perception objection to indirect realism. | If we only ever perceive our own mental representations, we can never step outside them to compare them with the external world. This makes it impossible to verify if our representations accurately correspond to reality. | | How does Immanuel Kant's distinction between phenomena and noumena limit the reliability of perception? | We can only perceive phenomena (the world as structured by our minds' cognitive categories). The noumena (things-in-themselves) remain entirely inaccessible to perception, meaning we can never perceive mind-independent reality directly. | | Kant's "Copernican revolution" in philosophy argues that instead of our minds conforming to the world, objects must conform to how our minds work. | Kant's "Copernican revolution" in philosophy argues that instead of our minds conforming to the world, objects must conform to how our minds work. | | What is George Berkeley's epistemological idealism, and what is its core maxim? | The view that reality is fundamentally mind-dependent and physical objects are collections of perceptions. Its core maxim is esse est percipi ("to be is to be perceived"). | | How does Berkeley's idealism build upon Locke's indirect realism to reject the existence of matter? | Berkeley argues that if we only ever perceive ideas (as Locke claimed), we have no logical reason to postulate an unperceivable material substance behind those ideas. Matter is an unnecessary hypothesis. | | What is the intermittency objection to Berkeley's idealism, and how does Berkeley resolve it? |

Objection: If existence depends on being perceived, physical objects must cease to exist when no human is looking at them.
Resolution: Berkeley claims God always perceives everything, sustaining the physical world in continuous existence.

| | What is phenomenalism, and how does it explain the existence of unobserved physical objects without appealing to God? | Phenomenalism reduces physical objects to actual and possible sensory experiences. It explains unobserved objects through conditional/counterfactual statements: "if you were to enter the room, you would experience a table." | | What is the primary objection to phenomenalism regarding translation? | The problem of translation: it has proven impossible to fully translate statements about physical objects into statements about possible sense experiences without leaving a remainder. | | How does Edmund Husserl's concept of intentionality challenge the traditional subject-object divide in perception? | Intentionality means all consciousness is "consciousness of something." Because mind and world are inseparable from the start, the traditional split between an inner subject and an outer object is a false dichotomy. | | How does Maurice Merleau-Ponty's concept of the body-subject redefine the nature of perception? | Perception is not a private mental event inside the head, but an active, situated bodily engagement that takes place at the boundary between the self and the environment. | | What is Friedrich Nietzsche's perspectivism, and how does it challenge objectivism? | The view that there are no objective facts, only interpretations. All perception is situated from a specific standpoint shaped by biological needs, cultural values, and the will to power. | | Does Nietzsche's perspectivism collapse into radical relativism? Why or why not? | No. Nietzsche does not claim all perspectives are equally valid; some perspectives are richer, more comprehensive, and more life-affirming than others. | | Explain Donna Haraway's concept of situated knowledge and its critique of traditional objectivity. | All knowledge is produced from a specific social and historical location. The "neutrality" claimed by traditional objectivity is actually the perspective of dominant groups disguised as universal truth. | | What is Sandra Harding's standpoint theory, and why does it claim marginalized groups have an epistemic advantage? | Marginalized groups have an epistemic advantage because their social position forces them to understand both the dominant group's worldview and their own reality to survive, creating a double perspective. | | In theories of perception, direct realism holds that we perceive physical objects immediately, whereas indirect realism holds that our perception is mediated by mind-dependent representations. | In theories of perception, direct realism holds that we perceive physical objects immediately, whereas indirect realism holds that our perception is mediated by mind-dependent representations. | | To explain unperceived objects, Berkeley's idealism appeals to the constant perception of God, while phenomenalism appeals to counterfactual/possible sensory experiences. | To explain unperceived objects, Berkeley's idealism appeals to the constant perception of God, while phenomenalism appeals to counterfactual/possible sensory experiences. |

1. Being human6 subtopics

2. Aesthetics3 subtopics

3. Epistemology3 subtopics

4. Ethics3 subtopics

5. Philosophy of religion3 subtopics

6. Philosophy of science3 subtopics

7. Political philosophy3 subtopics

8. Social philosophy3 subtopics

9. HL extension: Philosophy and contemporary issues3 subtopics

10. Prescribed philosophical texts12 subtopics

IB Philosophy 3.2.2 Theories of Perception Flashcards