EPISODE · Sep 14, 2026 · 58 MIN
Perception, Abstraction and Idealism - General Philosophy (Peter Millican)
from Philosophy Overdose · host Philosophy Overdose
In this lecture on General Philosophy, Professor Peter Millican discusses the problem of perception, the distinction between primary and secondary qualities, resemblance, abstraction, and idealism. This comes from a 2010 series on General Philosophy. The slides have been added.This series of lectures was delivered by Peter Millican to first-year philosophy students at the University of Oxford. The lectures comprise of the 8-week General Philosophy course, delivered to first year undergraduates. These lectures aim to provide a thorough introduction to many philosophical topics and to get students and others interested in thinking about key areas of philosophy. Taking a chronological view of the history of philosophy, each lecture is split into 3 or 4 sections which outline a particular philosophical problem and how different philosophers have attempted to resolve the issue. Individuals interested in the 'big' questions about life such as how we perceive the world, who we are in the world and whether we are free to act will find this series informative, comprehensive and accessible.More lectures on General Philosophy: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhP9EhPApKE_xo2wvkm6qPZrUlAiRNHXbSource: https://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/series/general-philosophy00:00 Intro to Primary & Secondary Qualities 01:04 The Mechanisms of Perception 02:41 What are Objects Like? 04:20 Locke & Corpuscularianism 07:47 Pains, Colours, & Shapes 09:24 A Problematic Text 11:03 In Objects, or Just In the Mind? 14:29 Why Resemblance? 16:01 Can an Idea Resemble an Object? 18:41 Structural Resemblance? 21:44 Solidity 23:42 Hume’s Criticism 25:11 Empiricism & Understanding 26:23 The Attack on Abstraction 29:25 The Case for Idealism 30:26 “Something I Know Not What” 35:16 Locke’s Indirect Realism 36:13 An Unacceptable Interpretation 38:30 Sense Data 39:08 How To Prove the Causal Link? 40:50 Phenomenalism 43:20 Direct Realism 45:59 Is a Lockean View Defensible? 48:29 Explanatory Realism #philosophy #epistemology #perception #skepticism #philosophyofmind #historyofphilosophy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Perception, Abstraction and Idealism - General Philosophy (Peter Millican)
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