Representative Realism Research Paper

When it comes to Philosophy there are many theories that have been created, researched, and shared and taught in the fields of academia. For instance, there is the theory of perceptual knowledge – known as Representative Realism, and the problems that challenge the theory holistically. With that being said, this paper will illustrate what the theory of knowledge or Representative Realism is, and the problems that can ensue.

To illustrate, Representative Realism (or the theory of perceptual knowledge) is the philosophical position that the world we see (in conscious experiences) is not the world itself, but rather a miniature virtual-reality (or in virtue) of the world internally. In other words, Representative Realism is a theory that argues

If we take the example of a plane on a radar screen (or the dot), it will simply represent the location of a plane because it is caused in virtue of the actual plane. In other words, the radar (that traffic controllers work with) rotates, sends a signal, hits the plane, and sends the signal back to our radar, thus causing the dot to appear on our radar. Whereas, with the resemblance thesis, the resemblance thesis stems from the idea of resembling physical objects. In laymen terms, if our sensory ideas are caused appropriately, then they will additionally represent or resemble the objects we indirectly perceive. Thus, Representative Realism (or even a Representationionalist) argues the case from Epistemological Facts (or Epistemology) as it is impossible to have any experience beyond our sensory surfaces – unlike dreams, hallucinations, and visual illusions, such as the apparent convergence of parallel train tracks not being a property of the world itself; but more so our perceptual representation of

For instance, imagine a book that appears rectangular. A Representative Realist would ask “how do you know the book is justified in being rectangular” when our sensory ideas – operate as a veil of ignorance (according to John Locke)? Well, to answer this, according to Representative Realism a Representative Realist would reason inductively (i.e., through the inference of general laws from instances). Because according to Representative Realist, his or her findings (i.e., sensory ideas) are evidence (i.e., alone) through a concept called “inference to the best explanation” according to philosophers. In other words, given the concept above (like the Causation and Resemblance thesis), we are justified in thinking that the reliable nature of our perceived relation (to external objects) determines our sources of truth – and how it justifies our perception to be sources of knowledge. However, there is one problem with this as one can argue (against it) and say “we know what the world is like, and that it exists, because sense-data resemble the world in primary qualities, but not secondary