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perceptionmore about perception

perception

 

  2  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Perception  \Per*cep"tion\,  n.  [L.  perceptio:  cf  F.  perception. 
  See  {Perceive}.] 
  1.  The  act  of  perceiving;  cognizance  by  the  senses  or 
  intellect;  apperhension  by  the  bodily  organs,  or  by  the 
  mind,  of  what  is  presented  to  them  discernment; 
  apperhension;  cognition. 
 
  2.  (Metaph.)  The  faculty  of  perceiving;  the  faculty,  or 
  peculiar  part  of  man's  constitution  by  which  he  has 
  knowledge  through  the  medium  or  instrumentality  of  the 
  bodily  organs;  the  act  of  apperhending  material  objects  or 
  qualities  through  the  senses  --  distinguished  from 
  conception.  --Sir  W.  Hamilton. 
 
  Matter  hath  no  life  nor  perception,  and  is  not 
  conscious  of  its  own  existence.  --Bentley. 
 
  3.  The  quality,  state,  or  capability,  of  being  affected  by 
  something  external;  sensation;  sensibility.  [Obs.] 
 
  This  experiment  discovereth  perception  in  plants. 
  --Bacon. 
 
  4.  An  idea;  a  notion.  [Obs.]  --Sir  M.  Hale. 
 
  Note:  ``The  word  perception  is  in  the  language  of 
  philosophers  previous  to  Reid,  used  in  a  very  extensive 
  signification.  By  Descartes,  Malebranche,  Locke, 
  Leibnitz,  and  others  it  is  employed  in  a  sense  almost 
  as  unexclusive  as  consciousness,  in  its  widest 
  signification.  By  Reid  this  word  was  limited  to  our 
  faculty  acquisitive  of  knowledge,  and  to  that  branch  of 
  this  faculty  whereby,  through  the  senses  we  obtain  a 
  knowledge  of  the  external  world.  But  his  limitation  did 
  not  stop  here  In  the  act  of  external  perception  he 
  distinguished  two  elements,  to  which  he  gave  the  names 
  of  perception  and  sensation.  He  ought  perhaps  to  have 
  called  these  perception  proper  and  sensation  proper, 
  when  employed  in  his  special  meaning.''  --Sir  W. 
  Hamilton. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  perception 
  n  1:  the  representation  of  what  is  perceived;  basic  component  in 
  the  formation  of  a  concept  [syn:  {percept},  {perceptual 
  experience}] 
  2:  a  way  of  conceiving  something  "Luther  had  a  new  perception 
  of  the  Bible" 
  3:  the  process  of  perceiving 
  4:  knowledge  gained  by  perceiving;  "a  man  admired  for  the  depth 
  of  his  perception" 
  5:  becoming  aware  of  something  via  the  senses  [syn:  {sensing}, 
  {perceiving}]




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