True Or False Perceptions: Merleau-Ponty

Indirect realists often ask us to consider hallucination and perceptual illusions. In hallucinations, you see something, but nothing which exists. In illusions, you see something, but not as it really is e.g. a straight stick in water appears bent. In each case, what you see, they claim, is a mental thing, an appearance, a ‘sense-datum’. We can then say that what we perceive ‘immediately’ is the appearance, which has secondary qualities; and that it is by enquiries@alevelphilosophy.co.uk © Michael Lacewing perceiving the appearance that we perceive the physical object, which has only primary qualities. So we see the appearance of the vase, which is a mental thing which really is red; and this way, we indirectly see the vase, which is a physical

Whenever I think of something not appearing to be something you first thought it was, I always think of water. Depending on how deeply you look down through it, the things underneath seem to be a lot bigger than if you were to bring them back up to the surface. Usually when you do that, you get a more accurate look at the object you’re now inspecting, as well as a closer look at its details. To assume that you’re looking at a sunken yacht at the bottom of a small lake seems ridiculous, but you wouldn’t know any different unless you questioned the image you see.

C. Illusions, are simple perceptions, which although produced by an external stimulus are misinterpreted by the client. The information gathered by the eye is processed in the brain to give a perception that does not tally with the physical measurement of the stimulus source.

Do you think perception is reality? I do not think perception is reality. A lot of people perceive things that are not reality. Almost everyone sometimes perceives different things. Everyone has their own way of perceiving things and there are a lot of people in the world.

In life, what we perceive tends to show misconception in how the thought plays out. A good example would be the character Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s American classic: The Great Gatsby. Gatsby was unable to distinguish between his love for Daisy, a reality, versus the illusion that he could recapture her love by establishing and inventing a fraudulent past. He believed he could repeat the past, and acquire a flaunting wealth. In the novel, Jay Gatsby seems incompetent in establishing a difference between the realities of his life versus the illusion he made out.

A long time ago the difference between perception and reality was defined as the act of understanding in contrast to the act of being real. Reality could be tricky; most of us including myself depending on scenarios of our lives tend to give in to ideas which are not applicable to reality as a whole. The best example of this is written in the short story “All Over” by Guy de Maupassant. In which his main character Lormerin is very self conscious and narcissistic also Lise de Vance, a former old love plays a big role in hurting Lormerin ego and opening his eyes by showing him, his real self. Many would say that when reality knocks it could be harsh and confusing. In the next couple of

Perceptions is what we as individuals understand from the information we are given, what we think we see and know vs what another sees towards the same object or person. But something we must always keep in mind is the stigmas we have aren’t always true.

There are many situations in life which are related to reality and they can be illusional because of your own perspective. a quote that supports this is “ Reality is that which, when you stop believing it, doesn’t go away”. This quote explains that reality is something that even if you don’t believe in it or if you don’t think its true it still doesn’t go away. You can’ deny the fact that that fact is true no matter what. You can make a situation unreal just because of the way you think or you don’t want to face the truth. This quote also explains that you can’t deny the harshness of the truth by consoling yourself. Some

In conclusion, we always have that blur between appearance and reality sometime in our lives dealing with ambiguous

The opening statement of the article Looks can deceive: Why Perception and Reality Don't Always Match Up by Christof Koch reads as follows; “When you are facing a tricky task, your view of the world may not be as accurate as you think” (Koch, 2010) In this article Koch argues that a human’s conscious perception of the world is neither static or accurate. That people everywhere are incapable of being one hundred percent objective and therefore their awareness of objects surrounding them is dependent on factors such as personal strength, confidence, fears and desires. Koch states that being human is equal to “seeing the world through your own, constantly shifting, lens” (Koch, 2010)

One of the most fundamental questions in philosophy is the one of appearance vs. reality. We find ourselves asking the question of what is genuinely “real,” and what is viewed merely as just an “appearance,” and not real? It becomes difficult when we assume there is a difference in the two to determine which is which. Generally, what we label as “real” is regarded as external

In “The world of perception” by Merleau-Ponty, he disagrees with both Weber and Descartes’ conception and perception of the world. The book itself largely focuses on Descartes by giving a critique of him through the notion of one self, notion of perception and sensation. Merleau- Ponty gives a critic of Descartes throughout the book; Weber is mentioned in the book, but not extensively like Descartes. The author's argue throughout the lectures by the means of a critique of what he refers to as 'classical world', which is the fundamental attitude underlying one’s experience and actions as well as a purely natural- scientific and philosophical enlightenment, especially as it is referred to by Descartes. Throughout the book Merleau-Ponty reminds the readers to rediscover the human experience in different perspectives.

Research carried out on attention has mainly been associated with the selective processing of incoming sensory information. It proposes, to some degree, our awareness of the world depends on what we choose to focus on and not simply the stimulation received by our senses. Attention is often linked to a filter that screens out most potential stimuli whilst allowing a select few to pass through into our conscious awareness, however, a great deal of debate has been devoted to where the filter is situated in the information processing chain (Martindale, 1991). Psychologists have made extensive contributions to this subject matter in the past century. Notable examples include Donald Broadbent's filter theory of attention (1958), which set the

Perception is the process of making meaning from people. Misperception would be to perceive someone incorrectly.

“Reason is the illusion of reality.” A quote from Hazrat Inayan Khan, the founder of The Sufi Order in the West in 1914 and teacher of Universal Sufism. People do accept reality but when they start to find a reason of their reality, illusion happens. The meaning of reality is the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them. On the other hand, illusion is defined as a thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses. There are a lot of reasons why people often go back and forth between the reality and illusion. When a person have an illusion, it does not simply means that he/she cannot accept the reality, however, it may be because the person wants to feel more about the reality.