Theories of Reality

Common-Sense Realism

This, also known as common-sense idea, suggests that the world is the mirrors the way the world is People who believe this believe what they see is what is there.

Scientific Realism 

According to scientific realism, the world exists as an independent reality. The scientific perception of reality is quite different to the common-sense reality, in a sense that the "familiar, comfortable, sensuous" impression of the world is replaced by colourless, odourless, soundless realm of atoms" in an empty space. For example, the physicists, Sir Arthur Eddington differentiates between two perceptions of a table: one has colour and is used for writing on and the other that contains matter, electrons, eclectic charges and vibrates in it's place.

Phenomenalism

Empiricism is the theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses. Phenomenalism is a radical form of empiricism, that is, matter is a permanent possibility of sensation and it does not make sense to say that the world exists independently, without our experience of it. An Irish philosopher, George Berkeley formed the famous slogan "To be is to be perceived." This supports the idea that knowledge is based on experience. Phenomenalism acknowledges that the world exists beyond what we experience in it, but claims that we only know our world from a distinct human perspective and have to right to speculate about the limit of our uncertainty. 

Linking Questions

Emotion: How does your mood affect your perception of things? 
Emotion is one of the fallibilities of perception, since when we process sensory information, we may alter the interpretive qualities of what we perceive. Our mood, or emotional state generates perceptual expectations and we then become accustomed to perceiving things in accord to our mood. Fear, for example, can affect low-level visual processes, sad moods and can cause visual illusions, while happiness can create a positive, optimistic viewpoint on things.

Language: How does the way we describe something affect the way we see it? 

Our perception consists of sensation and interpretation and this interpretation is provided by our minds. As a result, each person has different interpretation. For example, if your friend describes one person as bad and another as good, when you meet this person, your brain will pre-register each person according to your friends descriptions.

This shows that we may consider some situations from our surrounding and make conclusions, which aren’t necessarily always right

Ethics: Do good people see the world differently from bad people?

Firstly, we have to define what good and bad mean in this statement. What makes a person good, or bad? We would be assuming that our current definition of good and evil is the correct one and in our current society, what defines the norm is what most people think. In relation to if they see the world differently, it depends on perspective. People generally believe that “bad” people have some problems in their life that cause them to view the world negatively, while “good” people view it positively.

History: Should we trust eye-witness evidence?

Most people argue that eye-witness testimony is reliable, but has many flaws. For example, social influences, along with memory/time lapses and racial biases can cause our brain to have prejudgments towards a person. Scientists have even found out that stress can also affect an eyewitness account. Additionally, this calls into question the reliability of our memory and perception of events that unfolded.