Prompt 4

Jasmyn Burks

Mrs. Welhelmus

AP English Language

11 August 2013

The Perception of the World

      Immanuel Kant was a philosopher who teaches the perception of reality. He believes that since all knowledge one encounters is mentally, one can only know what the mind presents to them. In Sophie's World, in the “Kant” chapter, Alberto Knox gives Sophie an experiment to better understand Immanuel Kant. Alberto tells Sophie to put on a pair of glass and asks what she sees. The glasses are tinted red, the light colors became pink while the dark colors became crimson. Sophie could see that the world was the same except that everything was red.

      The purpose of this experiment was to show Sophie, and readers, that everything you see is a part of the world around you. Though, the way you perceive it makes the difference. Some things limit the way people perceive reality, like the red tinted glasses in the experiment. This experiment shows what Kant meant about how certain conditions can control the mind when people experience the world. Everyone see the world the same way, but everyone has different experiences.

      In some conditions, I do perceive the world differently than others. I grew up in a big family, so my life can be loud and chaotic, while smaller families are quiet and calm. My life can get busy and unorganized, while others are neat and organized. Also, since my family is so big, we have to spend more money on more things. In smaller families, the demand for more things, like food and clothing, are not as high as if you were in a larger family. With more mouths to feed and more money to spend, my family does not have that much money left over for other things. Though, with my family, I will never get bored and there is always something to do.