The role of the human senses in food acceptance

Abstract

Naive realism is the philosophical view that things that exist in the environment truly possess the qualities which they appear to have—a coin is round, an apple is red, peppers are pungent. However, when viewed on edge, a coin appears elliptical, an apple seen under green light appears gray, and peppers may be perceived as pungent to some but not to others. If one accepts the postulates of naive realism, these facts lead to the conclusion that coins are, simultaneously, circular and elliptical, that an apple is both red and gray, and that any single pepper is both pungent and mild. Such irrational conclusions have led most modern thinkers to accept an alternative epistemological view. This latter view is that of empiricism.