Russel.docx

Russel.docx

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Russel

RusselTheProblemsofPhilosophy.TXT

CHAPTERI

APPEARANCEANDREALITY

ISthereanyknowledgeintheworldwhichissocertainthatnoreasonablemancoulddoubtit?

Thisquestion,whichatfirstsightmightnotseemdifficult,isreallyoneofthemostdifficultthatcanbeasked.Whenwehaverealizedtheobstaclesinthewayofastraightforwardandconfidentanswer,weshallbewelllaunchedonthestudyofphilosophy--forphilosophyismerelytheattempttoanswersuchultimatequestions,notcarelesslyanddogmatically,aswedoinordinarylifeandeveninthesciences,butcriticallyafterexploringallthatmakessuchquestionspuzzling,andafterrealizingallthevaguenessandconfusionthatunderlieourordinaryideas.

Indailylife,weassumeascertainmanythingswhich,onacloserscrutiny,arefoundtobesofullofapparentcontradictionsthatonlyagreatamountofthoughtenablesustoknowwhatitisthatwereallymaybelieve.Inthesearchforcertainty,itisnaturaltobeginwithourpresentexperiences,andinsomesense,nodoubt,knowledgeistobederivedfromthem.Butanystatementastowhatitisthatourimmediateexperiencesmakeusknowisverylikelytobewrong.ItseemstomethatIamnowsittinginachair,atatableofacertainshape,onwhichIseesheetsofpaperwithwritingorprint.ByturningmyheadIseeoutofthewindowbuildingsandcloudsandthesun.Ibelievethatthesunisaboutninety-threemillionmilesfromtheearth;thatitisahotglobemanytimesbiggerthantheearth;that,owingtotheearth'srotation,itriseseverymorning,andwillcontinuetodosoforanindefinitetimeinthefuture.Ibelievethat,ifanyothernormalpersoncomesintomyroom,hewillseethesamechairsandtablesandbooksandpapersasIsee,andthatthetablewhichIseeisthesameasthetablewhichIfeelpressingagainstmyarm.Allthisseemstobesoevidentastobehardlyworthstating,exceptinanswertoamanwhodoubtswhetherIknowanything.Yetallthismaybereasonablydoubted,andallofitrequiresmuchcarefuldiscussionbeforewecanbesurethatwehavestateditinaformthatiswhollytrue.

Tomakeourdifficultiesplain,letusconcentrateattentiononthetable.Totheeyeitisoblong,brownandshiny,tothetouchitissmoothandcoolandhard;whenItapit,itgivesoutawoodensound.Anyoneelsewhoseesandfeelsandhearsthetablewillagreewiththisdescription,sothatitmightseemasifnodifficultywouldarise;butassoonaswetrytobemorepreciseourtroublesbegin.AlthoughIbelievethatthetableis'really'ofthesamecolourallover,thepartsthatreflectthelightlookmuchbrighterthantheotherparts,andsomepartslookwhitebecauseofreflectedlight.Iknowthat,ifImove,thepartsthatreflectthelightwillbedifferent,sothattheapparentdistributionofcoloursonthetablewillchange.Itfollowsthatifseveralpeoplearelookingatthetableatthesamemoment,notwoofthemwillseeexactlythesamedistributionofcolours,becausenotwocanseeitfromexactlythesamepointofview,andanychangeinthepointofviewmakessomechangeinthewaythelightisreflected.

Formostpracticalpurposesthesedifferencesareunimportant,buttothepaintertheyareall-important:

thepainterhastounlearnthehabitofthinkingthatthingsseemtohavethecolourwhichcommonsensesaysthey'really'have,andtolearnthehabitofseeingthingsastheyappear.Herewehavealreadythebeginningofoneofthedistinctionsthatcausemosttroubleinphilosophy--thedistinctionbetween'appearance'and'reality',betweenwhatthingsseemtobeandwhattheyare.Thepainterwantstoknowwhatthingsseemtobe,thepracticalmanandthephilosopherwanttoknowwhattheyare;butthephilosopher'swishtoknowthisisstrongerthanthepracticalman's,andismoretroubledbyknowledgeastothedifficultiesofansweringthequestion.

Toreturntothetable.Itisevidentfromwhatwehavefound,thatthereisnocolourwhichpreeminentlyappearstobethecolourofthetable,orevenofanyoneparticularpartofthetable--itappearstobeofdifferentcoloursfromdifferentpointsofview,andthereisnoreasonforregardingsomeoftheseasmorereallyitscolourthanothers.Andweknowthatevenfromagivenpointofviewthecolourwillseemdifferentbyartificiallight,ortoacolour-blindman,ortoamanwearingbluespectacles,whileinthedarktherewillbenocolouratall,thoughtotouchandhearingthetablewillbeunchanged.Thiscolourisnotsomethingwhichisinherentinthetable,butsomethingdependinguponthetableandthespectatorandthewaythelightfallsonthetable.When,inordinarylife,wespeakofthecolourofthetable,weonlymeanthesortofcolourwhichitwillseemtohavetoanormalspectatorfromanordinarypointofviewunderusualconditionsoflight.Buttheothercolourswhichappearunderotherconditionshavejustasgoodarighttobeconsideredreal;andtherefore,toavoidfavouritism,wearecompelledtodenythat,initself,thetablehasanyoneparticularcolour.

Thesamethingappliestothetexture.Withthenakedeyeonecanseethegram,butotherwisethetablelookssmoothandeven.Ifwelookedatitthroughamicroscope,weshouldseeroughnessesandhillsandvalleys,andallsortsofdifferencesthatareimperceptibletothenakedeye.Whichoftheseisthe'real'table?

Wearenaturallytemptedtosaythatwhatweseethroughthemicroscopeismorereal,butthatinturnwouldbechangedbyastillmorepowerfulmicroscope.If,then,wecannottrustwhatweseewiththenakedeye,whyshouldwetrustwhatweseethroughamicroscope?

Thus,again,theconfidenceinoursenseswithwhichwebegandesertsus.

Theshapeofthetableisnobetter.Weareallinthehabitofjudgingastothe'real'shapesofthings,andwedothissounreflectinglythatwecometothinkweactuallyseetherealshapes.But,infact,asweallhavetolearnifwetrytodraw,agiventhinglooksdifferentinshapefromeverydifferentpointofview.Ifourtableis'really'rectangular,itwilllook,fromalmostallpointsofview,asifithadtwoacuteanglesandtwoobtuseangles.Ifoppositesidesareparallel,theywilllookasiftheyconvergedtoapointawayfromthespectator;iftheyareofequallength,theywilllookasifthenearersidewerelonger.Allthesethingsarenotcommonlynoticedinlookingatatable,becauseexperiencehastaughtustoconstructthe'real'shapefromtheapparentshape,andthe'real'shapeiswhatinterestsusaspracticalmen.Butthe'real'shapeisnotwhatwesee;itissomethinginferredfromwhatwesee.Andwhatweseeisconstantlychanginginshapeaswe,moveabouttheroom;sothathereagainthesensesseemnottogiveusthetruthaboutthetableitself,butonlyabouttheappearanceofthetable.

Similardifficultiesarisewhenweconsiderthesenseoftouch.Itistruethatthetablealwaysgivesusasensationofhardness,andwefeelthatitresistspressure.Butthesensationweobtaindependsuponhowhardwepressthetableandalsouponwhatpartofthebodywepresswith;thusthevarioussensationsduetovariouspressuresorvariouspartsofthebodycannotbesupposedtorevealdirectlyanydefinitepropertyofthetable,butatmosttobesignsofsomepropertywhichperhapscausesallthesensations,butisnotactuallyapparentinanyofthem.Andthesameappliesstillmoreobviouslytothesoundswhichcanbeelicitedbyrappingthetable.

Thusitbecomesevidentthattherealtable,ifthereisone,isnotthesameaswhatweimmediatelyexperiencebysightortouchorhearing.Therealtable,ifthereisone,isnotimmediatelyknowntousatall,butmustbeaninferencefromwhatisimmediatelyknown.Hence,twoverydifficultquestionsatoncearise;namely,

（1）Istherearealtableatall?

（2）Ifso,whatsortofobjectcanitbe?

Itwillhelpusinconsideringthesequestionstohaveafewsimpletermsofwhichthemeaningisdefiniteandclear.Letusgivethenameof'sense-data'tothethingsthatareimmediatelyknowninsensation:

suchthingsascolours,sounds,smells,hardnesses,roughnesses,andsoon.Weshallgivethename'sensation'totheexperienceofbeingimmediatelyawareofthesethings.Thus,wheneverweseeacolour,wehaveasensationofthecolour,butthecolouritselfisasense-datum,notasensation.Thecolouristhatofwhichweareimmediatelyaware,andtheawarenessitselfisthesensation.Itisplainthatifwearetoknowanythingaboutthetable,itmustbebymeansofthesense-data--browncolour,oblongshape,smoothness,etc.--whichweassociatewiththetable;but,forthereasonswhichhavebeengiven,wecannotsaythatthetableisthesense-data,oreventhatthesense-dataaredirectlypropertiesofthetable.Thusaproblemarisesastotherelationofthesense-datatotherealtable,supposingthereissuchathing.

Therealtable,ifitexists,wewillcalla'physicalobject'.Thuswehavetoconsidertherelationofsense-datatophysicalobjects.Thecollectionofallphysicalobjectsiscalled'matter'.Thusourtwoquestionsmaybere-statedasfollows:

（1）Isthereanysuchthingasmatter?

（2）Ifso,whatisitsnature?

ThephilosopherwhofirstbroughtprominentlyforwardthereasonsforregardingtheimmediateobjectsofoursensesasnotexistingindependentlyofuswasBishopBerkeley（1685-1753）.HisThreeDialoguesbetweenHylasandPhilonous,inOppositiontoScepticsandAtheists,undertaketoprovethatthereisnosuchthingasmatteratall,andthattheworldconsistsofnothingbutmindsandtheirideas.Hylashashithertobelievedinmatter,b