Deck 13: Perception: Our Knowledge of the External World

Question 1

Sense data are images in the mind, which do not exist in the external world.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Representationalism claims that we only have indirect knowledge of the physical world.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Phenomenalism claims that the physical world exists independently of our perceptions.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

According to Bertrand Russell, physics proves that common sense (or naive realism) is correct.

Question 5

John Locke developed a causal theory of perception.

Question 6

Locke denied that colors, sounds, and smells are properties of physical objects.

Question 7

According to Locke, we directly experience the underlying substance of material objects.

Question 8

George Berkeley claimed that matter did not exist.

Question 9

According to Berkeley, our perceptions resemble the physical objects that cause them.

Question 10

According to W. T. Stace, the world described by science is merely a useful fiction.

Question 11

The opposite of veridical perceptions are

A) memories.
B) horizontal perceptions.
C) reality based perceptions.
D) illusory appearances.

Question 12

Direct realism claims that the immediate objects of perception are

A) the eternal forms.
B) sense impressions.
C) independent physical objects.
D) our own psychological states.

Question 13

Other names for direct realism are

A) naive realism and commonsense realism.
B) impressionism and sensory realism.
C) mediated empiricism and natural realism.
D) super-realism and first-order realism.

Question 14

Representationalism and phenomenalism agree that

A) sense data exist apart from our awareness of them.
B) the immediate objects of perception are caused by sense
C) the immediate objects of perception cannot exist apart from our awareness of them.
D) a and b.

Question 15

Representationalism and phenomenalism disagree over whether or not

A) sense data exist in the external world.
B) sense data are caused by the physical world.
C) our experience is confined to sense data.
D) we can be aware of sense data.

Question 16

When John Locke says that our minds are like a "white paper, void of all characters,"he is making the point that

A) human beings at birth are morally pure.
B) most people do not use all of the mind's capacity.
C) we can never have any knowledge.
D) all the contents of the mind come from experience.

Question 17

According to Locke, primary qualities

A) are inseparable from their objects.
B) accurately represent features in the world.
C) cause the secondary qualities.
D) all of the above

Question 18

According to Locke, primary qualities include the following:

A) solidity, extension, figure, movement, and number.
B) colors, sounds, tastes, touch, and sensations.
C) solidity, extension, sounds, touch, and movement.
D) colors, extension, figure, sounds, and touch.

Question 19

According to the text, a problem with Locke's representationalism is that

A) he does not believe there are material substances.
B) he rejected science, calling it a "collection of fictions."
C) we can never compare our experiences to the objects that cause them.
D) all of the above

Question 20

According to Locke's view of substance

A) it is an unknown "something I know not what."
B) it is that which underlies all other properties.
C) there are both material and spiritual substances.
D) all of the above

Question 21

George Berkeley criticized Locke by saying he

A) failed to explain how physical events could cause quite different mental events.
B) failed to distinguish primary and secondary qualities.
C) relied too much on God to explain the physical world.
D) all of the above

Question 22

According to Berkeley, the two types of reality are

A) primary qualities and secondary qualities.
B) matter and physical laws.
C) minds and mental events.
D) material substances and mental substances.

Question 23

Berkeley's philosophy is called

A) dualistic interactionism.
B) immaterialism.
C) representationalism.
D) direct realism.

Question 24

According to Berkeley, objects such as tables and chairs are

A) mental phenomena that exist only when they are perceived.
B) made up of physical atoms that exist apart from the minds that perceive them.
C) the cause of the secondary qualities we experience.
D) b and c

Question 25

Phenomenalism has been criticized because it does not

A) allow for a distinction between appearance and reality.
B) cannot explain the permanency of material things.
C) undermines the notion of causal interaction in nature.
D) all of the above

Question 26

What is direct realism? Give examples of how modern science undermines the plausibility of direct realism.

Question 27

Explain why John Locke's position is appropriately called "representationalism." In other words, what is being represented, according to Locke, and what is it that does the representing?

Question 28

How is representationalism more plausible than direct realism? What is the "permanent picture gallery"objection to representationalism? To what degree to you think representationalism offers the most plausible theory of perception?

Question 29

What is the distinction between primary and secondary qualities? Give several examples of each and explain why each example is best classified under one rather than the other category.

Question 30

What does George Berkeley mean when he says "to be is to be perceived"? How would Locke and Berkeley differ in explaining what we mean when we say "there is a chair in this room"?

Question 31

What role does God play in Berkeley's theory of perception?

Question 32

According to your text, Berkeley gave four criticisms of Locke's representationalism. Choose two of these and discuss them.