Our Knowledge of the External World by Bertrand Russell
OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD
Author: Bertrand Russell
"What is real? ...How do you define real?...If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see then "real" is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain..."-Morpheus (The Matrix)
In discussions regarding philosophy, the external world is regarded as everything
used by the five senses that is separate from the human identity. In theory, as the author
states, the external world exists because it is perceived through the senses. "I think it
must be admitted as probable that the immediate objects of sense depend for their
existence upon physiological conditions in ourselves, and that for example, the colored
surfaces we see cease to exist when we shut our eyes." According to this, color is in fact
a product of what the eye sees, and not already in the object. The apple is not red because
the apple is red, but rather because I am looking at it. When one looks at an object, the
perceiver describes the sight and the recognition of the object and therefore creates the
existence of that object. If saying so, then one must bring to mind what happens when
one looks away from the immediate object. Would the object still exist on itself? Or does
it disappear just because the perceiver is not looking at it, therefore acknowledging its
existence? If the object exists due to the senses proving its reality, then theoretically the
object must cease to exist when it has stopped being perceived. Questions arise whether
the object exists at all since its existence depends on the viewer.
Bertrand Russell separates the idea to know something into two distinct parts.
Perception of an object relies on knowledge of things by acquaintance and knowledge of
things by...
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