ABSTRACT
Philosophy.—Phenomenalism is a form of antirealism (→REALISM). It contends that the only knowable objects are experiences and the logical constructions that follow from them (→EXPERIENCE, LOGIC, OBJECT). In the phenomenalist view, then, there is nothing to perceive beyond experience (→PERCEPTION). By considering real things to be on “the other side of the veil of perception,” to use John Locke’s terms, phenomenalists argue that nothing can give us access to what is on the other side of that veil. Like the advocates of the theory of direct perception, phenomenalists see the objects of experience as being perceived directly, but they do not see perceived objects as being physical.
