Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) causes behavioral and emotional problems. The emotions associated with the disorder, research has shown, literally change and individual’s perception. Those who study the effects of emotion on perception generally accept an indirect theory of perception like representationalism. Yet, an indirect theory does not seem to be adequate to account for the immediacy and phenomenology of PTSD. Therefore, a theory that can better account for these is needed. I suggest a form of direct realism – the combined scientific-philosophical theory that combines John Campbell’s 3-place relation and James J. Gibson’s direct perception of information through ambient light – is such a theory. In addition, looking at the variability of normalcy may account for why there is not 100% attrition of PTSD across individuals exposed to the same or similar traumatic events.
","abstract_html":"<p>Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) causes behavioral and emotional problems. The emotions associated with the disorder, research has shown, literally change and individual’s perception. Those who study the effects of emotion on perception generally accept an indirect theory of perception like representationalism. Yet, an indirect theory does not seem to be adequate to account for the immediacy and phenomenology of PTSD. Therefore, a theory that can better account for these is needed. I suggest a form of direct realism – the combined scientific-philosophical theory that combines John Campbell’s 3-place relation and James J. Gibson’s direct perception of information through ambient light – is such a theory. In addition, looking at the variability of normalcy may account for why there is not 100% attrition of PTSD across individuals exposed to the same or similar traumatic events.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Woodruff, Patrick Travis"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.A. in Philosophy","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Philosophy and Religion","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Donovan Wishon","Timothy P. Yenter","Robert Barnard"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:05:53Z","subjects":["Direct Realism","Perception","Ptsd","Philosophy"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/751","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Donovan Wishon","Timothy P. Yenter","Robert Barnard"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Woodruff, Patrick Travis"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-06-20T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Philosophy and Religion"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.A. in Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Direct Realism","Perception","Ptsd","Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/751"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) causes behavioral and emotional problems. The emotions associated with the disorder, research has shown, literally change and individual’s perception. Those who study the effects of emotion on perception generally accept an indirect theory of perception like representationalism. Yet, an indirect theory does not seem to be adequate to account for the immediacy and phenomenology of PTSD. Therefore, a theory that can better account for these is needed. I suggest a form of direct realism – the combined scientific-philosophical theory that combines John Campbell’s 3-place relation and James J. Gibson’s direct perception of information through ambient light – is such a theory. In addition, looking at the variability of normalcy may account for why there is not 100% attrition of PTSD across individuals exposed to the same or similar traumatic events.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["PTSD And Emotionally Augmented Perception: An Argument For Direct Realism"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Donovan Wishon","Timothy P. Yenter","Robert Barnard"],"dc:creator":["Woodruff, Patrick Travis"],"dc:date.available":["2019-06-20T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) causes behavioral and emotional problems. The emotions associated with the disorder, research has shown, literally change and individual’s perception. Those who study the effects of emotion on perception generally accept an indirect theory of perception like representationalism. Yet, an indirect theory does not seem to be adequate to account for the immediacy and phenomenology of PTSD. Therefore, a theory that can better account for these is needed. I suggest a form of direct realism – the combined scientific-philosophical theory that combines John Campbell’s 3-place relation and James J. Gibson’s direct perception of information through ambient light – is such a theory. In addition, looking at the variability of normalcy may account for why there is not 100% attrition of PTSD across individuals exposed to the same or similar traumatic events.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/751"],"dc:subject":["Direct Realism","Perception","Ptsd","Philosophy"],"dc:title":["PTSD And Emotionally Augmented Perception: An Argument For Direct Realism"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Philosophy and Religion"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.A. in Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:05:53Z"}