Consequences for Philosophy of Perception
If experiences are alienable, it is impossible for philosophers of perception to embrace a particular form of naïve realism. Naïve realism is the appealing view that in perception we are perceptually related to objects and properties in the world. But anyone acknowledging alien experiences of the bias-driven kind will find a full embrace of naïve realism challenging. The strongest form of naïve realism, austere relationalism, rejects any explanatory role for representations. But with respect to the kinds of experiences from which we might most often feel alienation, austere relationalists are forced into an untenable position. In order to account for ways racist and sexist bias could affect perception, we should therefore adopt a hybrid of naïve realism and representationalism.