Metaphysics I - Realism, antirealism and the third way Flashcards
(39 cards)
What does metaphysics concern itself with?
Speculation about what there is, and the nature of what there is
From which period onwards have proofs of the existence of the external world been produced? What does this tell?
From early modernity onwards -> before that, it was apparently not ‘necessary’ to come up with proofs in favour of the existence of the external world
What is global vs. local realism?
Global realism: belief that there is a mind-independent world
Local realism: belief that some kind of entities exist in the mind-independent world
What is global vs. local antirealism?
What is an alternative name for antirealism?
Global antirealism: view that we cannot make sense of the idea that there exists a mind-independent world
Local antirealism: view that a kind of entities does not exist in the mind-independent world
Alternative name: idealism
What is the standard empiricist standpoint on the origin of knowledge? Who diverges from this viewpoint?
General viewpoint: all knowledge originates in sensory experiences/perception & perception is always indirect
Exception = Reid: direct realism (analogous with credulism) -> the information we get via perception is direct information about the external world, and if there is something faulty about perceptions, we get signals of this
What are arguments to say that perception is indirect? (2)
We cannot tell whether:
- One and the same sensory experience can be veridical, an illusion or hallucinatory -> from sensory experience itself, we cannot tell whether they correspond with the external world
- The existence of perceptual relativity: depending on our point of view, we have different perceptions of the same thing/object (but due to processing in our brain, the resulting perceptual beliefs are the same)
Conclusion: we do not perceive the world directly, but we perceive images of it directly
What are illusions? What are hallucinations?
Illusions = you are wrong about one or more properties of the object you are perceiving
Hallucinations: you think there is an object, when there is in fact no object out there
Which names do Locke, Hume and Descartes use for the images of the world that we perceive? Which term is currently frequently used?
Locke: ideas
Hume: impressions
Descartes: sensations
Currently: sense-data
How do impressions eventually form beliefs? Which part of this process can go wrong?
During impressions, the mind is passive -> unprocessed information that cannot be used to form perceptual beliefs. Then our mind ‘activates’ and forms perceptual beliefs from the sense impression.
[We cannot be mistaken in the impression, but we can make mistakes during processing of perception and the formation of perceptual beliefs
Where does Locke fit on the spectrum of realism-antirealism?
Locke = indirect realist
What does Locke’s indirect realism entail?
There is an external world, but we only acquire knowledge about it indirectly, via ideas
Which qualities does Locke consider in bodies? (2)
- Primary qualities = utterly inseperable from the body -> solidity, extension, figure & mobility
- Secondary qualities: powers/dispositions of the object by virtue of its primary qualities that can produce various sensations in us
What makes primary qualities ‘primary’?
We cannot think of things in the external world without considering these qualities; their existence doesn’t depend on perception
What are examples of secondary qualities?
Colour, sounds, tastes, etc.
What is a difference between primary and secondary qualities with regards to which senses are able to perceive them?
Primary qualities can be perceived by multiple senses
Secondary qualities can typically only be perceived by one sense
How does Locke explain that the configuration of primary qualities of objects can generate their secondary qualities?
He calls upon corpuscles = atoms/particles that are not sensible, but that have sizes/shapes/motions and by virtue of these characteristics they can induce dispositions in us
On the basis of what does Locke argue in favour of realism?
Based on inference t the best/most probable explanation of the stability of our experiences -> a good explanation of that we experience the same time and again is that there is indeed an external world that generates these sensations in us
Which viewpoint on colours can be taken from realist and antirealist viewpoints?
- Primitivism about colour = realism
- Physicalism about colour = realism
- Eliminitavism about colour = antirealism
- Dispostionalism about colour = combination between realism & antirealism
What is primitivism about colour?
Local realism about colours: they are objective properties of objects in the mind-independent world, that cannot be reduced to physical properties
Primitivism about colour makes it quite comparable to […]
Primary qualities
What is physicalism about colour? Which subspecies are there?
Reduces colour to physical properties
- Wavelength physicalism
- Reflectance physicalism
What is wavelength physicalism about colour?
Local realism about colours: colour corresponds to the wavelength composition of light that an object reflects
What is the weakness of wavelength physicalism about colour? Which alternative was formulated to deal with this problem?
The wavelength composition that an object reflects is not only dependent on the object itself, but also on the light that falls upon the object
Alternative: reflectance physicalism
What is reflectance physicalism about colour? How does it solve the problem of wavelength physicalism?
Colour corresponds to the percentage of incident light that an object reflects per wavelength
The percentages of light are independent of the light that falls upon the object
