Foster, John - The Nature of Perception

What is the nature of perception—the sensory perception of items in the physical world by human subjects?

By tradition, there are three general theories. First, there is direct realism. This accepts a realist view of the physical world: it takes the physical world (the world of physical space and material objects) to be something whose existence is logically independent of the human mind, and something which is, in its basic character, metaphysically fundamental. And, within this realist framework, it takes our perceptual access to the physical world to be direct.