Perception & Truth

Is it true that:

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” --that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

(Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”

Perception-at-Large

The process by which we become aware of ordinary objects through the use of the senses.

Commonsense (naïve) Realism The perceived object is as I perceive it.

Reality is separate and distinct from me. Sensation accurately perceives what is.

But how do we explain hallucinations, dreams and mirages?

But how do we explain contradictory properties of experience?

Epistemological Dualism: Representative Theory of Perception

Real objects exist apart from us but… Ideas also exist in the mind.

The mind takes pictures of external objects.

But do our senses take clear and consistent pictures?

But how do we account for point-of-view?

Subjective Idealism: Mentalism

Ideas in the mind are the one reality.“To be is to be perceived.”Solipsism: God is the source of all

human ideas.

But doesn’t the universe exist whether we perceive it or not?

Proof is not possible.

Phenomenalism I: Kant

Noumena (things-in-themselves) cannot be perceived.They stimulate the senses.

Phenomena are the ideas of things as they appear to us.The form of knowledge is the way the mind

structures input.The content comes from the sense-experience.

Phenomenalism II: Kant

Form of knowledge is a priori (prior to our knowing it) in the mind.We could not do science, or have any

experience without the a priori form of knowledge in our brains.

But what are these a priori forms? What’s the difference?

Contemporary Realism

The real world is out there and it is open to us to experience.

Perception does not change the object. Experience clarifies our understanding

of the object.Scientific Method works.We can trust inference as we admit

incomplete knowledge.

Truth

It seems to be the ultimate aspiration. It guarantees certainty. How do I get it? How is it distinguished from belief?

Correspondence Theory

A statement is true if it conforms (corresponds) with objective reality.

Consensus of opinion confirms actual ‘states of affairs.’Accurate reports of the facts are sufficient

basis for established truth.• Disagreements only point us to further

clarification of language and ‘proof.’But now do we discuss love, the soul, etc?

Coherence (hang-together) Theory A proposition is true if it is totally

integrated with other propositions already established as part of a whole system.Geometry based on axioms.Reality based on Plato’s FormsTheoretical propositions are coherent

inside a system of established truths.• But what is the starting point?• What if starting points are false, or unreliable?

Pragmatic Theory

Truth is what works for people. Consequences determine the truth of

statements. Truth is measured in terms of how it

affects the ideal outcomes of human experience.

What works might not be true.

Beautiful Natural Form?

Boticcelli’s Venus: Ideal Form?

Michelangelo: Ideal Geometry?

Pollock: Alternate Truth?

Warhol: Eye of Beholder?

Van Gogh: Higher Truth?

Lichtenstein: Perception is Truth?

Mom, Dad, I want you to meet…

Mom, Dad, I want you to meet…

Is it all culture?

What Side Are You On?

“I want to be a singer.”

The Truth Hurts When You Stink!

Golden Ratio=‘Eye of God’?

Mathematical Perfection?

Divine Proportion?

Sacred Geometry?

Gizeh

Mandalas

Love: A Formula?

What Does the Pattern Mean?