PHIL1003 Lecture 4: Lecture 4A - Berkeley
Document Summary
Both descartes and hume are interested in whether and how we can have knowledge of matters of fact re: the world outside our minds/experience. All we can be certain of: the contents of our own minds (i. e. what sorts of thoughts/experiences/mental states we are having). How can we know (be sure/be epistemically justified in believing) that our experiences as of an external world correspond to: How can each of us know we"re not dreaming/being deceived by an evil demon/a brain in a vat etc. Solipsism: the belief that my mind is the only thing that exists. It certainly appears to us that there is an external world etc. Descartes and others operate with an indirect realist theory of perception: External objects cause sensations/experiences in us by causing stimuli that impinge on our sensory organs. Those (purely mental) sensations/experiences are all we have direct access to.
