Sense-Datum Theory and Intentional Theory: As responses to the Problems of Perception

Abstract

This paper aims to comparatively analyze the approaches of sense-datum theory and Intentional theory on perception. In epistemology, the concept of perception has become a hotly debatable investigation area since the 17th century via the expansion of Empiricism. Various accounts had been created by the empiricists such as John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume, in relation to the problems of perception. Those accounts led to several theories in the contemporary period such as sense-datum theory, Adverbial theory, Intentional theory, Disjunctive theory, etc. However, each and every theory has pros and cons itself. Hence, among all the contemporary theories of perception, sense-datum theory and Intentional theory have been taken for comparative analysis. According to sense-datum theory, in our perception, we directly aware of sense data, but not the physical objects. In contradiction to this, according to intentional theory, perception is a kind propositional attitude, similar to belief. Both these theories accept perception as a valuable source of knowledge. Even though, the way they are addressing the solution for the problems of perception differs from one another. In this paper, comparative analysis between these two theories has been done in two ways. One is based on the three key principles of perception such as common factor principle, phenomenal principle, and representational principle, as all the perception theories end up rejecting one or more of them. Another one is based on the arguments for and against those theories. According to the analysis, in comparing with intentional theory, the sense-datum theory is the best approach as a response to the problem of perception. This research has been done based on secondary data especially from related books, scholarly articles from journals on related topics, and recognized sources of the web. The researcher has utilized the analytical, comparative, and descriptive methods for analyzing the data gathered.