Philosophy Essay on Our Knowledge of the World Around Us

The human brain function of two aspects known as inputs and outputs. The sense organza such as the eye and the eye perceive signals from the environment called input. The brain is responsible le for analyzing the signals and redirecting them to the parts of the body that should respond in terms of output. However, the brain can be connected to the same if placed in a vat and will provide stimulus and the brain with respond to the illusions generated by the computer and life will continue with just a brain hooked to a computer. The allusion might be real, or even some supernatural powers may plant such input and output experiences in our minds. Now the problem is proving that we are truly alive and doing all our experiences and that its not an illusion. Some philosophers have come up with similar ideas such as idealism is Rene Descartes and Kant who explained the vision and the brain.

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When we look at the object, for example, a tree is just a presentation in the mind which changes when the object is viewed from different angles (Rachels, 127). This experience is based on ideas created in mind and, for this reason, we should wonder why we need a physical representation of the object, but perhaps it could be the source of the ideas we have in mind. But we can settle for the point that the only things that exist is our mind and its ideas (Rachels, 128). Descartes was confident that he has his thoughts and experiences, and he thinks, and therefore he is. He suggested something does not exist but are a reality. He mentioned the idea of God as a perfect being and that the perfection makes the existence of God real (Rachels, 131). Direct and Indirect Realism is a philosophical notion that is based on inferring for experience to judge what we see is not free from criticism. Vision and the Brain was an idea by German philosopher Kant that perception is not a passive process. That is, the brain works in a way that it interprets events and experiences in a particular procedural manner (Rachels, 134). Even if many oppose the idea, modern research is acting in his favor.

After the readings, I was not satisfied with the presentation of the ideas and some questions kept lingering on my mind. Why do we need the objects to be physically represented? (Rachels, 128). How are we sure that the physical presentation is not an illusion itself? Why would Descartes set God as a reality that he cannot demonstrate as he does on other features? How honest is the direct and indirect realism for us to trust? How can we be sure that what we see is real and accept that it is existing?

Descartess quote that there is no conclusive indication by which waking life can be distinguished from sleep (Rachels, 126). Men can live a life based on allusions without noticing as long as their brain gets the same experiences based on the pattern of input and output. Another interesting quote was that the only that exists, in reality, is our minds and ideas" (Rachels, 128). Our mind allows to get a variety of experiences, and without it, we can never have a life worth guarding. I was also fascinated by the quote that when I look at an object I do not see the object but an experience or an idea (Rachels, 130). Objects are responsible for the experiences we have and the thoughts that come into our brain in the form of ideas.

After reading the whole philosophical content, I have just realized my life has just been full of philosophies that I have not been able to see or explain. I believe that Descartes and Kant had philosophies that elaborate on the actual experiences and perceptions of life. Someone told me that when we dream it's a reflection of what is in mind. The mind keeps its ideas based on experiences on the environment people live. The objects we touch creates ideas in mind and, its what shapes our life. I have found studying philosophy allows me to have a very imaginative mind and develops some other ideas I failed to understand in the past. As a child when I was in darkness I used to close my eyes to avoid seeing the ghosts or any scary thing. The closing of the eyes made me feel safe as it separated me from an unpleasant experience. I can say the illusion of ghost or even if it was a reality was the object that facilitated the experience. I know understand that objects facilitate the experiences we encounter daily as part of life.

It was my pleasure to have studied the philosophical ideas, my different thinkers. This interesting experience has kept me thing differently on other ideas of what could be real and not. The illusion of life and the question we ask can be answered by focusing on philosophical concepts which we can also help create. Descartes and Kant open our mind to further experiences as scholars of philosophy.

Work Cited

Rachels, "Problems of philosophy." (2011).