Summary |
The objects of
perception are what we are directly aware of when perceiving. Are these objects
physical objects in our environment? Direct realists argue they are. A common challenge
to direct realism draws on cases of hallucination: when I am hallucinating, I
seem to be perceptually aware of something, yet there is no physical object
present for me to be aware of. By contrast to direct realists, sense datum
theorists maintain that sense data rather than physical objects in our
environment are immediately present to the mind. Sense data are mind-dependent
objects that actually have the properties (e.g., color and shape) that we may take
external objects to possess in perception. There are two varieties of sense datum
theory. On indirect realist views, sense data “stand in for” or represent physical objects. On idealist views, we are directly
aware of sense data, yet there are no physical objects for which they stand in.
A different type of position is developed by intentionalists, who distinguish
the object of perception from its content. On this view, perceptual states are intentionally
directed toward physical objects and their properties, yet physical objects can
be misrepresented in perception because the content of a perceptual state may
fail to match its object. |