Perception influences so much and is influenced by many things as well. Almost all our knowledge of the world comes from perception, but that knowledge influences our future perceptions. We also wrestle with questions about the extent to which perception reveals an external world or creates one, is a function of the body or the mind, and is affected by physical and mental stimuli. There is much that goes on in our eyes, noses, ears, mouths, and fingers which is yet to be understood.
A major challenge in examining perception is determining how to do so. Knowledge requires a model that describes the operations which occur in perception. Yet these models will differ significantly depending on one’s ideology (i.e. whether one is a realist, idealist, materialist, phenomenologist, etc.). One also needs to account for why people experience the same thing differently, such as preferences for different temperatures, foods, climates, interactions with others, etc. The more we find out about perception, the more we will need to refine our models of it. Just as we’re learning about what diets are right for different people and what exercise regimens are most efficient for various body types, we may discover that some models of perception are more accurate for some people than others. If this is correct, then the true nature of perception is still waiting to be discovered.
- Matt Bower, “Levinas’s Philosophy of Perception,” Southern Journal of Philosophy, December 2017.
- Mika Suojanen, “The Philosophy-Ladenness of Perception: A Philosophical Analysis of Perception in Husserl and Sartre,” Linguistic and Philosophical Investigations, 2018.
- Mette Kristine Hansen, “Aesthetics as Philosophy of Perception,” The Philosophical Quarterly, October 2016.
- Kang Chzhunkho, “The Philosophy of the Nature of Perception: Traditional and Contemporary Views,” RUDN Journal of Language Studies, Semiotics and Semantics, December 2015.
- Brian Keeley, “Speculative Fiction and the Philosophy of Perception,” Midwest Studies In Philosophy, September 2015.
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