Background
Marvin, Walter Taylor was born on April 28, 1872 in New York, United States.
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Walter Taylor Marvin
Edit ProfileEducation
University of Columbia, Universities of Halle and Bonn. Infis: William James.
Career
Professor of Philosophy, Rutgers University.
Views
Holding that shapes and colours are all intrinsic properties and objective creates problems for the direct realist. For instance, John who looks at a table from the top sees a round shape and Andrew who looks at the same table from a distance sees an elliptical shape. Could a table be both round and elliptical? Is this not self-contradictory? Marvin tried to resolve this problem by saying that the table is both elliptical and the subject perceives only one of the properties of the table, because of the nervous system, selects one of the properties from the set of properties. Although the above solution may to some extent answer the problem posed in relation to the table, it is insufficient to cope with illusions or errors in perception. What of the rope that is perceived as a snake?
