Philosophy of perception

The philosophy of perception concerns how mental processes and symbols depend on the world internal and external to the perceiver. Our perception of the external world begins with the senses, which lead us to generate empirical concepts representing the world around us, within a mental framework relating new concepts to preexisting ones. Because perception leads to an individual's impression of the world, its study may be important for those interested in better understanding communication, self, id, ego —even reality.

Related Topics:
Symbols - Perception - Senses - Empirical - Concepts - Communication - Self - Id - Ego - Reality

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A major issue in the philosophy of perception is the possibility of discrepancies between the external world and the perceiver's impressions, which are sometimes referred to as qualia. While René Descartes concluded that the question

Related Topics:
Qualia - René Descartes

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"Do I exist?" can only be answered in the affirmative (cogito ergo sum), Freudian psychology suggests that self-perception is an illusion of the ego, and cannot be trusted to decide what is in fact real. Such questions are continuously reanimated, as each generation grapples with the nature of existence from within the human condition. The questions remain: Do our perceptions allow us to experience the world as it "really is?" Can we ever know another point of view in the way we know our own?

Related Topics:
Cogito ergo sum - Freudian - Psychology - Ego - Generation - Human condition

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