Original scientific paper

The Truthfulness of Epicurus’ Perceptions

Ana Gavran Miloš

Abstract

According to Epicurean epistemology all perceptions are true. The thesis implies that our senses do not ever err and that perceptions give us always correct report of the external world. Although it seems very problematic and counterintuitive, careful investigation of the main sources shows us that Epicurus’ claim for the truth of perceptions is not so hasty but supported with some serious arguments. Epicurus’ main concern was to show that we can attain knowledge about the external world. In order to secure the possibility of knowledge Epicurus proposed to rely on perceptions as incorrigible foundation of our knowledge and argue that all perceptions are true. The defense of the thesis and explanation how can it be the case that all perceptions are true is provided by the theory of what happens in the process of perceiving a physical object. In this paper I try to show that his epistemological remarks on infallibility of the senses become more convincing and plausible if properly placed within Epicurus’ general physical theory. His theory explains perceptions as a raw material which cannot be false since it is a mere response of a sense organ on the impact from the outside, namely from g*T8. Because g*T8 are true and secure reports of external objects, truthfulness of all perceptions is guaranteed. The truth of all perceptions simply follows from the mechanical explanation of the way they are produced, so the truthfulness of perceptions must be accepted on the basis of their origin.

Keywords

Epicurus; epistemology; true; perception; process of perceiving; errors in perception; truthfulness of perceptions

Hrčak ID:

19713

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/19713

Publication date:

28.1.2008.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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