Epistemological Problems of Perception

The central problem in the epistemology of perception is that of explaining how perception could give us knowledge of an external world. Although this is a perfectly intelligible and pressing question in its own right, it is made especially salient by various forms of skepticism, which argue that the senses cannot give us knowledge or even justified belief. Such a conclusion would have far reaching epistemological implications, given how many of our other, non-perceptual, beliefs depend on perception. Skepticism about the external world highlights a number of epistemological difficulties regarding the nature and epistemic role of experience, and the question of how perception might bring us into contact with a mind-independent reality. The issues that arise are of central importance for understanding knowledge and justification more generally, even aside from their connection to skepticism.