Lecture 25 Notes

The Enduring Problem of Perception

1. The Representational Theory of Perception
1. According to the representational theory of perception, we have no direct perception of anything except inner representations.
2. Naive View: Inner Representations Fully "Resemble" That Which They Represent.  For example, my inner representation of an apple is of a round, red object.  According to the naive view, the object represented is also round and red.
2. Key Problem: What Justifies Resemblance Assumption???  Note: Direct Comparison Between Representation and Represented is NOT Possible!

From Rationalism to Empiricism

1. The Rationalists: Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Chomsky
2. The Empiricists: Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Skinner
3. Rationalists vs. Empiricists
1. Innate Knowledge vs. Knowledge Through Experience--The Rationalists believe that we have innate knowledge; the Empiricists believe that we are born with a blank slate and we gain knowledge through experience of the world.
2. Competing Paradigms of Knowledge--Euclid vs. Newton
• Euclidean Paradigm--First principles and axioms are used to prove other principles.  The goal is certainty.  This is the Rationalist paradigm.
• Newtonian Paradigm--Observation is the source of knowledge.  The goal is not certainty but predictive power or explanatory power.  This is the Empiricist paradigm.