Theory of Sensation from "summary" of The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
The Theory of Sensation is a view about the nature of the physical world. According to this theory, the physical world is composed of sense-data, which are the immediate objects of our perception. These sense-data are the things that we directly experience through our senses, such as colors, sounds, tastes, and smells. Sense-data are different from physical objects in that they are private to each individual. While physical objects are assumed to exist independently of our perception of them, sense-data are only present when we are perceiving them. This means that sense-data are subjective in nature, and can vary from person to person. The Theory of Sensation raises an important question about the relationship between sense-data and physical objects. If the physical world is composed of sense-data, then how do we know that physical objects exist at all? How do we know that there is anything beyond our immediate sensory experience? One possible answer to this question is that physical objects are inferred from sense-data. That is, we perceive sense-data, and then we infer the existence of physical objects as the cause of these sense-data. This inference is based on the regularity and consistency of our sensory experiences, which leads us to believe in the existence of an external world that is responsible for producing these experiences. The Theory of Sensation challenges our ordinary way of thinking about the physical world. It suggests that our perception of the world is mediated by our senses, and that the world as we experience it is not necessarily the same as the world as it really is. This raises profound philosophical questions about the nature of reality and our knowledge of it.
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