In Defense of Direct Perception Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical Essa

In Defense of Direct Perception ABSTRACT: My goal in this paper is to defend the claim that one can directly perceive an object without possessing any descriptive beliefs about this object. My strategy in defending this claim is to rebut three arguments that attack my view of direct perception. According to these arguments, the notion of direct perception as I construe it is objectionable since: (1) it is epistemically worthless since it leaves perceived objects uninterpreted; (2) it cannot explain how perceived objects are identified; and (3) it is ill-prepared to assign objective content to perceptual states. What is involved in the claim that one directly perceives an object? The notion of direct perception that I propose to defend in this paper is this: that one 'directly' perceives an object if one's perception of this object is not mediated by beliefs. Put another way, a 'direct' perceiver does not believe anything about an object in (directly) perceiving it. On this construal of the notion of direct perception, it follows that if one directly perceives an object, one does not describe this object; for any description of an object is expressed as a belief, and direct perceptions do not involve beliefs. The direct perceiver, I claim, does not (and indeed may be completely unable to) give a description of the perceived object, without this lack (or inability) detracting from the fact that the object is directly perceived. In defending this view of direct perception, we need to become clearer on how it is possible for a belief to mediate one's perception of an object. There are (at least) two ways in which this can occur. Here's the first. A belief can be said to mediate one's perception of an object if a belief se... ...ld, itself, be an interpretation—but then we've simply displaced the problem one step, for the question will arise again with this interpretation, to wit, what is its object. Nor could the object of an interpretation simply be what satisfies the interpretation (or, put another way, whatever satisfies the descriptive beliefs associated with a perception) for an object could satisfy this interpretation, without being the de facto object of perception. Indeed, an object of indirect perception might not, in actuality, even satisfy one's associated descriptive beliefs—and still it will be indirectly perceived. Thus, the object of an indirect perception must be what is provided by a direct perception—what other object could be a candidate? That is, the notion of an indirect perception relies on a prior notion of a direct perception, and is indeed inconceivable without it.

Not My Best Side

How does the lanuage used create effects? The following paragraphs explore how language is used to create effects in the poem Not my Best Side by U. A. Fanthorpe, an ekphrastic poem that uses the free verse form arranged in three stanzas of nineteen lines each. It's purpose is to entertain, which it does through the use of humour, using Standard English in an informal, conversational manner. Dramatic monologues from the characters re-tell from their own perspective, the historical myth of a brave knight that slays a fearsome dragon and rescues a damsel in distress. There are some differences however, and playing with the readers expectations and using modern stereotypes in place of the historically accepted character roles is where much of the humour is derived. the dragon, unlike it's mythological counterpart has quite a sophisticated vocabulary, use of adjectives like ‘ostentatiously beardless' and the idiom ‘old chap' suggests an intelligent, well spoken, stereotypical British, Upper Class gentleman, the antithesis of a ferocious monster. The line ‘Not my best side, I'm afraid. , reveals the dragon's self conciousness and obsession with appearance, a reocurring theme. The nouns ‘artist' and ‘pose' indicate the poem is about a character in a painting and the dragon is highly critical of both the painter, ‘Poor chap, he had this obsession with Triangles, so he left off two of my Feet. ‘ and the other characters, ‘Why should my victim be so Unattractive as to be inedible,'. It is the comical and c onversational tone that makes the dragon so likeable and lots of rhetorical questions draw the reader in, particularly ‘(What, after all, are two feet To a monster? ‘ which, enclosed in brackets gives the impression the dragon is addressing the reader directly. Continuing the pattern of reversing the stereotypes, the girl is presented as a slightly feminist, with a mind of her own, ‘It's hard for a girl to be sure if She wants to be rescued. ‘, not the typical damsel in distress and likewise, not the naive maiden expected in this kind of myth, euphemisms such as, ‘He made me feel he was all ready to Eat me. And any girl enjoys that. ‘ and ‘the dragon– Well, you could see all his equipment At a glance. are quite crude sexual innuendo of a sexually aware individual. She is a modern, young woman indicated by the nouns she uses, ‘hardware, acne, blackheads', and is just as obsessed by appearance as the dragon, ‘He was So nicel y physical, with his claws And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail,' it is interesting that her opinion of the dragon is much more flattering than his opinion of himself. It is also ironic in view of the dragons opinion of her, she thinks the dragon fancies her ‘And the way he looked at me,'. Perhaps she is still a little naive, and the final lines of the second stanza, ‘Still, what could I do? The dragon got himself beaten by the boy, And a girl's got to think of her future. ‘ suggests a certain helplessness, as though there really is no escape from the role assigned to her by society, despite her own desires. The final stanza opens with a very funny line, ‘I have diplomas in Dragon Management and Virgin Reclamation. ‘, especially if one takes a moment to consider the training involved in ‘virgin reclamation'. It suggests the knight has recently completed his training and is quite young, perhaps his first day on the job. Despite the humour, he is nothing like the chivalrous knights of legend. He is arrogant, ‘You can't Do better than me at the moment. ‘ Clearly a ‘product' of the modern age, and obsessed with gadgets, ‘My horse is the latest model ‘, Much of his language is from a modern lexicon, ‘management, reclamation, prototype' etc and from the semantic field of modernity, ‘contemporary, latest, and at the moment' all of which place him in the present rather than the era in which this myth has it's roots. He seems a little confused when confronted by the girl's modern, feminist attitude, ‘Don't You want to carry out the roles That sociology and myth have designed for you? ‘. He repeats the words ‘Don't you†¦? ‘ three times, deciding chauvinistically, what the girl wants is irrelevant, ‘What, in any case, does it matter what You want? You're in my way. ‘.

The Afghani Cultural Marriage - 1969 Words

Marriage is a ritual that takes place to form a formal union between a man and a woman for starting a family. In Afghanistan, it is believed that marriages are made by the almightily Allah and it is a bond and promise not only between two people but also between two families from different backgrounds. Therefore, as Afghanistan is a conservative society built upon traditional and Islamic principles, marriage is considered the only acceptable way for a man and a woman for forming a lifelong bond and relationship. The Afghani cultural marriage has its own practices and rituals which makes it completely different and though attractive to the outsiders. For example, in the West, a marriage ceremony includes engagement, wedding ceremony and†¦show more content†¦IV. The Wedding Ceremony and Nikah: The Afghan marriage ceremonies are unique to its people and traditions. Nowadays, the Afghan marriages have adopted many modernized elements such as celebrating the ceremony in modern we dding halls. In majority of the weddings, men and women are hosted separately but there are weddings in which men and women are mixed and hosted together. In addition, showing and demonstrating the prestige and social status is one of the unique features of the Afghan weddings by wearing expensive clothing and jewelry (muslim-marriage-guide.com, 2012). The musician plays the music for entertaining the guests and at the same time the stage is decorated with flowers and a sofa for the bride and the groom. While the bride and the groom come into the hall, the musician plays a song that is very special and unique to the Afghan traditions for generations. The main lyric of the song is â€Å"Ahesta Bero† meaning that walk slowly. Additionally, the bride and the groom come into the hall and one of the elderly women of the groom’s family carries the Holly Quran which means that the new couple is pure of all wrongdoings and evils (Afghan Wedding Traditions, 2011). At the same t ime, all the guests show special respect to the Holly Quran and the couple by standing, clapping and throwing flowers towards them. Moreover, the couple goes through number of traditional rituals such as the Nikah,Show MoreRelatedEssay on Tim Winton and Zohra Saed values 1167 Words   |  5 Pagescontext. Compare and contrast how Winton and Saed explore similar values. Make detailed reference to your texts. An authors values and ideas originate and stem from their personal, historical and cultural context. By comparing the two authors Tim Winton (from an Australian context) and Zohra Saed (Afghani/New York context) we are able to see how similar values are shaped through identity/contex. 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