external world
Quick Summary
The reality of the external world is a central problem in metaphysics, a branch of philosophy. It questions whether an external world exists independently of our minds and if our senses provide reliable information about it.12
This problem gained prominence in modern philosophy, notably with RenƩ Descartes, who sought a foundation for knowledge by doubting everything, including the external world, to find what could be known with certainty. Later philosophers like George Berkeley proposed idealism, suggesting that reality is fundamentally mental or based on ideas. In contrast, realism posits that objects exist and have properties independent of perception.13425
In the 20th century, philosophers like G.E. Moore offered simple "proofs" for an external world, while others, such as logical positivists, argued that statements about the external world are meaningless if not empirically verifiable. Philosophers like Ludwig Wittgenstein and Martin Heidegger explored how language and human existence relate to this question.6
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epistemologyKnowledge of the external worldMost people have noticed that vision can play tricks. A straight stick submerged in water looks bent, though it is not; railroad tracks seem to converge in the distance, but they do not; and a page of English-language print reflected in a mirrorā¦
Read MoreMost people have noticed that vision can play tricks. A straight stick submerged in water looks bent, though it is not; railroad tracks seem to converge in the distance, but they do not; and a page of English-language print reflected in a mirrorā¦
Read More- epistemologySkepticism
ā¦thing as knowledge of an external world. According to that view, it is at least logically possible that one is merely a brain in a vat and that oneās sense experiences of apparently real objects (e.g., the sight of a tree) are produced by carefully engineered electrical stimulations. Again, givenā¦
Read Moreā¦thing as knowledge of an external world. According to that view, it is at least logically possible that one is merely a brain in a vat and that oneās sense experiences of apparently real objects (e.g., the sight of a tree) are produced by carefully engineered electrical stimulations. Again, givenā¦
Read More - epistemologyPhenomenalism
ā¦that claims about the purported external world must be capable of verification, or confirmation. That commitment entails that no such claim can assert the existence of, or otherwise make reference to, anything that is beyond the realm of possible perceptual experience.
Read Moreā¦that claims about the purported external world must be capable of verification, or confirmation. That commitment entails that no such claim can assert the existence of, or otherwise make reference to, anything that is beyond the realm of possible perceptual experience.
Read More