The Philosophy-Ladenness of Perception: A Philosophical Analysis of Perception in Husserl and Sartre

The basic entity in phenomenology is the phenomenon. Knowing the phenomenonis another issue. The phenomenon has been described as the real natural object orthe appearance directly perceived in phenomenology and analytic philosophy of perception.Within both traditions, philosophers such as Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Russell andWittgenstein have considered that perceptual experience demonstrates what a phenomenonis on the line between the mind and the external world. Therefore, conceptualizing thephenomenon is based on the perceptual evidence. However, if the belief that perception is“theory-laden” is true, then perception can also be “philosophy-laden.” These philosophershave not noticed whether perceptual knowledge is independent of philosophies. If perceptualknowledge is not independent of philosophies, a philosopher’s background philosophycan influence what he or she claims to know about the phenomenon. For Husserl, experienceis direct evidence of what exists. The textual evidence shows that Sartre rejects thedistinction between appearance and reality based on the assumption of the phenomenon. Byexamining Husserl’s Ideas and Sartre’s Being and Nothingness I conclude that thesephilosophers’ philosophical languages influence their perceptual knowledge. Philosophicaltraditions affect the thoughts of perception.