The Problem of Perception offers two arguments against direct realism-one concerning illusion, and one concerning hallucination-that up to now no theory of perception could adequately rebut. Smith then develops a theory of perception that succeeds in answering these arguments; and because these arguments are the only two that present direct realism with serious problems arising from the nature of perception, direct realism emerges here for the first time as an ultimately tenable position within the philosophy of perception.
