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B ERTRAND R USSELL“A PPEARANCE AND R EALITY ”Appearance and RealityJanuary 8, 20201COURSE BUSINESSCourse Textbook:- amazon.ca or OC Bookstore- Nietzsche book (on-order in OC Bookstore)POP Quizzes:- Start next week!2
OUTSIDERS LOOKING INOutsider’s Opinion of Philosophy:“many man, under the influence of science or practical affairs, areinclined to doubt whether philosophy is anything better than innocentbut useless trifling, hair-splitting distinctions, and controversies onmatters concerning which knowledge is impossible.”Why might this be so?“The butter caused Mary's belief. Had it not been there reflectinglight or doing other buttery things, Mary would not have formed herconfidence that it was there” (Simon Blackburn, “Julius Caesar andGeorge Berkeley Play Leap Frog”).3PHILOSOPHY AND KNOWLEDGEPhilosophyAIMSat knowledgePhilosophical answers are notNot aboutINDUBITABLEDEMONSTRABLY TRUEKnowledgeAsking question — exploring the bounds of knowledge4
SUCCESS IN PHILOSOPHYNot quite Little success compared to SCIENCECORPNATURAL PHILOSOPHY precursor of SCIENCECORP“Thus, to a great extent, the uncertainty of philosophy is moreapparent than real: those questions that are capable of definiteanswers are placed in the sciences, while those only to which, atpresent, no definite answer can be given, remain to form theresidue which is called philosophy.”5SO WHY STUDY PHILOSOPHY?Why not?6
RUSSELL, “WHAT IS THE VALUE OF PHILOSOPHY?”“Thus, to sum up our discussion of the value of philosophy:Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definiteanswers to its questions, since no definite answers can, as a rule,be known to be true, but rather for the sake of the questionsthemselves; because these questions enlarge our conception ofwhat is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination, and diminishthe dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation;but above all because, through the great- ness of the universewhich philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great,and becomes capable of that union with the universe whichconstitutes its highest good.”7EMPIRICAL KNOWLEDGECommon sense view on perception knowledgeEmpiricism — knowledge derives from experienceCertain knowledge of present experiences?Russell’s Hypothesis: statements about immediateexperiences likely to be wrong- Reasonable to double self-evident perceptions8
EMPIRICISM’S VEIL OF PERCEPTIONQUESTION: DEFECT, LIMITATION,ORREALITY?9SENSE DATA SENSATIONSSENSE DATA immediatesensory impression/experienceSENSATION idea derivedfrom past/present sensoryimpression/experience10
ALTERNATIVE: NAIVE REALISMCREEDO: Things are as they appear! *CRAZY TOWN: WHAT ABOUT“BENT” ORES IN WATER?!11ALTERNATIVE: NAIVE REALISM12:/
TABLE EXAMPLETendency to “believe” or “think” that the table isone uniform colourREALLYAppearance vs. Reality Distinction- table “appears” to be variations of some colour- table is “really” one uniform colourQuestion: If no (one/uniform) colour appears to be thecolour of the table, why is any one specific colour any“more real” than any other?13TABLE EXAMPLEQuestion: If no (one/uniform) colour appears to be the colourof the table, why is any one specific colour any “more real”than any other?Colour is not inherent in the objectFun Fact: Majority of scientists say objectsare not “coloured” (in ordinary sense)!Colour depends on a relationship between the perceiver andthe object (and the environment)ORDINARY LANGUAGE: “the colour” of “the table” “the sort of colour which it will seem to have to a normalspectator from an ordinary point of view under usualconditions of light.”14
TABLE EXAMPLEPERSPECTIVES ANDPOINTS OF VIEWHuman Eyes (1x magnification)Microscopic (1000x magnification)Quantum (n-x magnification)SO why privilege the humanperspective as “more real” thanany other perspective?TABLE EXAMPLESHAPE OF THE TABLE- table “appears: to be a diamond shape(from a certain angle)- table “really” is a rectangleDifferent points of view different shapesQuestion: Why is any specific point of view any “morereal” than any other point of view?RUSSELL’S CONCLUSIONConstruct the “real” table from the “apparent” table- Drawing inferences from what we see16
TABLE EXAMPLE“thus the various sensations due to various pressures orvarious parts of the body cannot be supposed to revealdirectly any definite property of the table, but at most to besigns of some property which perhaps causes all thesensations, but is not actually apparent in any of them. Andthe same applies still more obviously to the sounds which canbe elicited by rapping the table” (Russell p. 413).Experience the effect (i.e., “a sign”) of some property,sensation does not reveal property itselfProperties of objects cause a sensationExample: CatsFEELfluffy; not that catsARE(in reality) fluffy17APPEARANCE V. REALITY“Thus it becomes evident that the real table, if there isone, is not the same as what we immediatelyexperience by sight or touch or hearing. The real table, ifthere is one, is not immediately known to us at all, butmust be an inference from what is immediatelyknown” (Russell, p. 413).18
CHALLENGE OF IDEALISMIdealism — objects of knowledge depend on the mind- all that exists are minds ideasBerkeley’s Contribution: able to deny the existence ofmatter without absurdityWhy?If secondary qualities (e.g., colour, sound, smell, etc.)depend on the perceiver, why do primary qualities (e.g.,shape, size, solidity, etc.) NOT depend on the perceiver?Think: Can you conceive of a “colourless” shape?19CHALLENGE OF IDEALISMIf secondary qualities (e.g., colour, sound, smell, etc.) depend onthe perceiver, why do primary qualities (e.g., shape, size, solidity,etc.) NOT depend on the perceiver?Think: Can you conceive of a “colourless” shape?P1: The existence of secondary qualities depends on the perceiverP2: Inconceivable to think of primary qualities independentlyof secondary qualitiesC3: Existence primary qualities, therefore, also depends on the perceiverP4: If primary qualities are representations of “matter,”then “matter” is only a series of ideasP5: Primary qualities are representations of “matter”C6: Therefore, “matter” is only a collection “idea”C6: Therefore, there is not “external world” made of matter, and theworld is only a collection of ideas perceived by other minds20
NEXT LECTUREGeorge Berkeley, Three Dialogues BetweenHylas and Philonous (pp. 416-428)
BERTRAND RUSSELL “APPEARANCE AND REALITY” Appearance and Reality January 8, 2020 1 COURSE BUSINESS Course Textbook: - amazon.ca or OC Bookstore
