Philosophical Perception

Ansel Adams

Immanuel Kant

A basic question of ethics asks if an issue is ethical or not, or if the timing and demographics of the issue determine ethical perception. Relative ethics suggests that each individual perceives what is ethical differently, for example: Aristotle and Epicureans argued there are no universal ethics and that they derrive from experience. That's not to say that some morals are widely perceived, like "stealing is immoral", however, some may not judge a man for stealing something of little value to feed his children.

When considering what is ethically correct, the intent or action should be perceived and judged. This would examine why an idividual acted in a specific way to determine it's ethical value based on your perception of "good". Some philosophers believe we have the power to make our own decisions and decide for ourselves how we want to perceive issues and what is right. Plato said that any one who knows what is ethically right from wrong will do right. This is because the individual is doing what is right for themselves, though it may not be perceived as ethically right to others.

This explanation of perception and ethics all represents deontology, a grounding of ethics. Deontology was/is practiced by famous philosophers such as Immanuel Kant and suggests that individuals should always act moraly without considering the conseuquences. For example, Deontology would guide you to kindly explain that e shoes your friend is offering are not your style, though it may hurt thei feelings because it would be morally wrong to waste the use of shoes. Deontologys main rule is that it is your "moral responisibility" to tell the honest truth.

"By a lie... a man annihilates his dignity as a man"

-Plato

Hand Out - Ethics Reading #1 Pg. 142 - 146

Hand Out - Ethics Reading #3 Pg. 394 - 395

Hand Out - Ethics Reading Absolute or Relative Ethics

In Class Assignment - Morals Are A Personal Affair

Hand Out - A Moder View of Ethics

Notes - A Modern View of Ethics

Hand Out - Ethics Reading #4 Pg. 174 - 180

"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" - Deontology and Ethics http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/

"Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" - Kants Moral Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/

Plato

Freud believed there were three parts of our unconscious that help to form our identity, thus our perception. First was the id which is the "irational and pleasure seeking" part of the mind, which can help to explain instinctual perception. For example, an individual watches another fall into a pool and instinctually laughs is the id part of the unconscious mind. The second part is the ego which rationalizes the id. For example, this is the part that would lead you to believe that it is inappropriate to laugh at some ones misfortunes. The last part is the super ego which considers morals and values. This is the part of the mind that would force you to worry over the state of the individual and quickly support or aid them. Freud believed that psychoanalysis could be used to explain in this case how an individual would perceive/why they would react the way they would.

Hand Out - Metaphysics Reading #2

Hand Out - Metaphysics Reading #3

Class Notes

― David Hume, Of the Standard of Taste and Other Essays

David Hume was a Scottish philosopher who offered considerable arguments on the perception of self. He believed that in refference to the self, it is only based on experiences that are perceptions of sensory objects and that "human beings are nothing other than bundle os perceptions ra ipidly succedding each other". This meant that an individuals identity was nothing more than perceptions that were subject to change. In his "Treatise of Human Nature", Hume wrote:

"For my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself I always stumble on some particular perception or other, of heat, or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch myself at any time without a perception, and never can observe anything but the perception. When my perceptions are removed for any time, as by sound sleep, so long as I am I insensible of myself and may truly be said not to exist. And were all my perceptions removed by death and could I neither think, nor feel, nor see, nor love, nor hate after the dissolution of my body, I should be entirely annihilated..."

Here, Hume discusses that his present perceptions only represent feelings or thoughts but not his true self, however, without his perceptions he basically does not exist.

An Eastern View of the Mind and Perception

Tibetean Bhuddists believe that individuals experiences and memories are used when images are "created" or "projected" by the mind, distorting or falisfying how we perceive reality. They believe "structured programmes" such as meditations will repell unhappiness and clear your perception to reveal a true reality.

Bhuddists believe that by using primordial enlightenment, you can clear your perception and understand true reality. This containts five types of awareness (a perception): The Instrinsic primary awareness, Subtle awareness, compassionate awareness, spontaneous discriminating awareness and accomplishing awareness. Bhuddists believe that the ego acts as a "parasite" on the senses which allows us to perceive reality falsely.

Hand Out - Meta Physics Reading #2 Pg. 90, 93

Hand Out - Meta Physics Reading #3 Pg. 330- 341

Class Notes - Meta Physics Readings

Albert Einstein

A focus of metaphysics is defining identity and it's connection to the mind and body, all of which are influenced by but also affect perception.

Rene Descartes (though a rationalist) had very convincing arguments on the identity and its connection to the mind and body. Descartes argued that the mind and body were two sepperate entities, and that "Only thought cannot be sepperated from the self" meaning that our perception was a true reflection of ourselves. Descartes believed that our perception triggered thoughts which translated through the pineal gland into actions. These ideas sepperate the mind and body which would affect something like the treatement of a mental illness that offer problems in the stability of perception. The mind and how its identity percceives is subject to material influences, however the body is not a reflection of the mind.

Idealism is a position on the mind and body debate that suggests that all things are mental and exist only within our thoughts. Idealists believe that people think of ideas which they perceieve in the mind, and that these thoughts only exist in the mind primarily due to individual perspective and can not exist without it. This would explain how people experience events and ideas and how perception constructs our view of reality based on those experiences.

How we perceive ourselves as individuals and as a whole is very important to society. Our personal identity is created from our perception of the world and what we want to represent our values, goals, etc. and is particularly connectable to psychological studies because they can help to explain the nature of the mind and any connections to physical factors that could be influencing an individuals perception. Our identity as a society is considerable aswell, focusing on the perception of priorities and values of a community. Culture is an important facor in society because it provides identity, background and unity to communities.

Hand Out - Metaphysics Reading #1 p. 307-315

Hand Out - Metaphysics Matter or Nonmatter?

Hand Out - Metaphysics Reading #2

René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy

A good way to learn what hot is would be by experiencing cold. To further describe perception more epirically, let's explore rationalism.

Rationalists believe that our senses flaw our perception and make things seem real when they are not. Rene Descartes was a famous rationalist who believed there was "a deceiver, superemely powerful and cunning, whose aim it is to see that I am always decieved.". Here, Descartes refers to an evil working against religion to influence his perception of reality. He then resulted in that he must exist in that moment if he is thinking.

Hand Out - Philosophers Have Said p 181

Hand Out - Meditations of First Philosophy

Hand Out - Rationalism: Knowledge Through Reason