In 1781, Immanuel Kant published his Critique of Pure Reason, a work that revolutionized our understanding of human knowledge and thought. One of the most important ideas in this work is the concept of perception.
Perception is the process by which we gain awareness or understanding of our environment or situation. In other words, perception is how we learn through our senses.
In philosophy, perception can be defined as the process whereby information about the world is received and (if appropriate) transformed by the senses. In this sense, perception is closely linked to action by virtue of being filtered through memory and expectations. Thus, it can be said that perception is “what happens when sensory impressions cause our brains to go from neutral to active”.
Kant described two kinds of perceptions: intuitions and concepts. Intuitions are immediate or direct perceptions; concepts are indirect or mediated perceptions. For example, when you see a table in front of you, your eyes directly perceive it as an object with four legs and a flat surface. This is an intuitive perception because it does not require any mental processing; it simply happens in an instant without any effort on your part. In contrast, if someone asked you what a table is for or why people use them, then this is a concept because it requires some thought before answering the question (for example: tables are used for eating meals).
