The Philosophy of Perception: Doubt, Appearance, and Knowledge

Understanding Doubt and Appearance

In philosophy, questioning our reality begins with understanding different forms of doubt and the nature of appearance.

Types of Doubt

• Rational Doubt: This involves rejecting all previous justifications and explanations to rebuild knowledge from a new foundation. Rational doubt is a consequence of a determined will to find truth.
• Existential Doubt: In this state, the world itself is not lost, but the meaning of existence is what has been lost.

The Nature of Appearance

Appearance is what something seems to be. We often assume things are as they appear because constantly questioning everything would be paralyzing. Philosophy, however, aims to overcome mere appearance.

Key Concepts Related to Appearance:

• Phenomenon vs. Appearance: Everything has an external manifestation, which we call a phenomenon. It is crucial not to confuse the phenomenon with appearance. The phenomenon is the external manifestation that maintains a connection with the thing itself, while appearance can be a substitute for reality.
• Unquestionability: Appearance allows something to be accepted without being truly seen or analyzed because no one puts it into question.
• Depersonalization: This occurs when things function independently of who performs the action or for whom it is done, lacking a personal agent behind them.
• Generalization: This leads people to be guided by popular opinion or societal expectations (“what is said” or “what one should do”), resulting in a life that lacks authenticity.
• Oblivion of Time: Appearance can make us forget the temporality of things, leading to related concepts:
  • Eternalization: The act of taking a temporary thing and making it seem eternal, without a beginning or an end.
  • Presentism: The reduction of everything to the present moment, as if things had no origin or history.

How to Overcome Appearance

To overcome appearance, the most important thing is the question, not the answer. An answer is often just an excuse to ask again. Therefore, what truly matters is the path or the methodology used for inquiry.

Deconstructionism

Proposed by Jacques Derrida, this method posits that reality is a construction that we must disassemble piece by piece. Derrida suggests various modes for this, such as a critical reading of history.

Philosophical Frameworks for Knowledge

Gnoseology and Theory of Knowledge

The object of gnoseology is knowledge in general. It is not restricted to human knowledge or scientific knowledge. A human being possesses many forms of knowledge, not all of which are scientific.

Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

In contrast, the object of epistemology is restricted to human knowledge, specifically the unique form of scientific knowledge. It describes the nature of science and the process of scientific inquiry.

The Theory of the Phenomenon

Human beings do not perceive things directly; our perception is mediated. We could say that we do not perceive things-in-themselves, but rather the signals that our senses process psychologically.

According to Immanuel Kant, the phenomenon should not be confused with appearance. The phenomenon is what is actually given to us through our senses, while appearance can be a misleading substitute for reality. This means human beings perceive phenomena, not the things-in-themselves. If we were to take this position to an extreme, we would fall into idealism—the belief that human beings produce the objects they know solely through their own reason.