--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Arguably, if you view a real barn in…" description: "\"Arguably, if you view a real barn in bright sunlight and close by, while fully alert and otherwise in good shape, then you do know whether or not you s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_arguably-if-you-view-a-real-barn-in-brig_3183012.jpg" --- # Arguably, if you view a real barn in bright sunlight and… ![“Arguably, if you view a real barn in bright sunlight and close by, while fully alert and otherwise in good shape, then you do know whether or not you see a barn. You have "animal" knowledge, says my virtue theory, through the first-order aptness of your judgment.” quote by Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_arguably-if-you-view-a-real-barn-in-brig_3183012.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_arguably-if-you-view-a-real-barn-in-brig_3183012.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/98e/ernest-sosa-12656_animal_arguably-if-you-view-a-real-barn-in-brig_3183012.jpg) > “Arguably, if you view a real barn in bright sunlight and close by, while fully alert and otherwise in good shape, then you do know whether or not you see a barn. You have "animal" knowledge, says my virtue theory, through the first-order aptness of your judgment.” [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Direct perception of ordinary objects provides basic, non‑theoretical knowledge, called “animal” knowledge. **In simple terms:** We know things by seeing them plainly. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of perceptual certainty. Themes epistemology perception knowledge philosophy Mood thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical educational When to use this quote - everyday observation - scientific measurement - legal testimony Key Concepts direct realism virtue epistemology first‑order judgment Questions to Reflect On - How reliable is your everyday perception? - When should we doubt our senses? A Different Perspective Perception can be deceived by illusion or bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Arguably View](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arguably-view-5840119/) [Barn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barn/) [Barn Bright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barn-bright-5840118/) [Barns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barns/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Know Barn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/know-barn-5840116/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Barn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-barn-5840117/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Sunlight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sunlight/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Views](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/views/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) ## Related quotes > [You need to have a home to go back to, whether it's a hotel room or a barn. It's only home when he's there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genevieve-gorder/you-need-to-have-a-home-to-go-back-to-whether-it-s-a-hotel-room-or-a/) [Genevieve Gorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/genevieve-gorder/) > [You are the one. Solid the spaces lean on, envious. You are the baby in the barn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/you-are-the-one-solid-the-spaces-lean-on-envious-you-are-the-baby-in/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [The barn where I work, it's only 15 minutes or so from Harvard square, so It's very close to the center of Boston, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/the-barn-where-i-work-it-s-only-15-minutes-or-so-from-harvard-square/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [We need a barn or one of those storage areas for the Broken vehicles." "A garage?" He gave her a short nod. "A private,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilona-andrews/we-need-a-barn-or-one-of-those-storage-areas-for-the-broken-vehicles/) [Ilona Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilona-andrews/) > [One of the things I like most of all is being in my study, in my barn, with absolutely no sound anywhere thinking about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tod-machover/one-of-the-things-i-like-most-of-all-is-being-in-my-study-in-my-barn/) [Tod Machover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tod-machover/) > [“Do not let any sweet-talking woman beguile your good sense with the fascination of her shape. It's your barn she's after.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesiod/do-not-let-any-sweet-talking-woman-beguile-your-good-sense-with-the/) [Hesiod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesiod/) > [I like a man who likes to see a fine barn as well as a good tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/i-like-a-man-who-likes-to-see-a-fine-barn-as-well-as-a-good-tragedy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [It’s what you sow that multiplies, not what you keep in the barn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-rogers/it-s-what-you-sow-that-multiplies-not-what-you-keep-in-the-barn/) [Adrian Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-rogers/) > [But I shall like my battle. This sort of day puts one in mood for it. Plenty of wood in the shed, jam and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bosworth-greene/but-i-shall-like-my-battle-this-sort-of-day-puts-one-in-mood-for-it/) [Anne Bosworth Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bosworth-greene/) > [Our sister Alma was the best hitter in the family. We used to soak corn cobs in water so they wouldnt fly so far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-waner/our-sister-alma-was-the-best-hitter-in-the-family-we-used-to-soak/) [Lloyd Waner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-waner/) > [I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-carson/i-was-so-naive-as-a-kid-i-used-to-sneak-behind-the-barn-and-do-nothing/) [Johnny Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-carson/) > [Dad's going steady with a pig in the barn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mojo-nixon/dad-s-going-steady-with-a-pig-in-the-barn/) [Mojo Nixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mojo-nixon/) > [I have the barn, it's just kind of like a studio. Almost all artists have la studio to work in, and that's really what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-bird/i-have-the-barn-it-s-just-kind-of-like-a-studio-almost-all-artists/) [Andrew Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-bird/) > [Do I enjoy features? Yeah, I really do. Would I like to do some more features before I head to the barn? Yeah, probably.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-i-enjoy-features-yeah-i-really-do-would-i-like-to-do-some-more/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-delillo/once-you-ve-seen-the-signs-about-the-barn-it-becomes-impossible-to/) [Don DeLillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-delillo/) ## More by Ernest Sosa > [Philosophers need not much use the word 'intuition' or the concept of intuition, except when they happen to be working on the epistemology of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/philosophers-need-not-much-use-the-word-intuition-or-the-concept-of/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [When you dream, your perceptual (and other) competence is affected. You are then unable to get it right competently with the beliefs in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/when-you-dream-your-perceptual-and-other-competence-is-affected-you/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Ultimately, my more significant agreement is with a virtue tradition that features Aristotle and Descartes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/ultimately-my-more-significant-agreement-is-with-a-virtue-tradition/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [It is bad to want something that not even God could attain, especially when the impossibility becomes obvious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-bad-to-want-something-that-not-even-god-could-attain-especially/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [I am mainly concerned with unqualified knowledge, by contrast with the varieties of expert knowledge: scientific knowledge of various sorts, legal knowledge, medically expert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/i-am-mainly-concerned-with-unqualified-knowledge-by-contrast-with-the/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [If a shot aimed at aptness succeeds aptly, it is then fully apt, since it is not only apt but also aptly apt. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/if-a-shot-aimed-at-aptness-succeeds-aptly-it-is-then-fully-apt-since/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [It is also certain that when we assent to some piece of reasoning when our perception of it is lacking, then either we go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/it-is-also-certain-that-when-we-assent-to-some-piece-of-reasoning/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [We need some standard that will determine how likely a belief is to be true given just that it is stored in one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-need-some-standard-that-will-determine-how-likely-a-belief-is-to/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Descartes's epistemology is a special case of Aristotle's virtue ethics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/descartes-s-epistemology-is-a-special-case-of-aristotle-s-virtue/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [There isn't a formal definition of success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/there-isn-t-a-formal-definition-of-success/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Success is better than failure; an attempt is a better attempt, it is better as an attempt, if competent than if incompetent; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/success-is-better-than-failure-an-attempt-is-a-better-attempt-it-is/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Judgment is affirmation with the intention to thereby affirm competently enough, and indeed aptly. That distinguishes judgments from mere guesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/judgment-is-affirmation-with-the-intention-to-thereby-affirm/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Any defense of common sense must allow that it is revisable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/any-defense-of-common-sense-must-allow-that-it-is-revisable/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [Given its more substantial aim, a judgment is apt only if its constitutive alethic affirmation is not only apt but aptly apt. The subject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/given-its-more-substantial-aim-a-judgment-is-apt-only-if-its/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) > [We can pursue the Cartesian project without restricting ourselves to theology and a priori faculties. A better, broader perspective is properly sought if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-sosa/we-can-pursue-the-cartesian-project-without-restricting-ourselves-to/) [Ernest Sosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) [Explore all 54 Ernest Sosa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-sosa/) ## More Animal quotes > [I was 3-years-old - to this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish. As one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joaquin-phoenix/i-was-3-years-old-to-this-day-it-is-a-vivid-memory-my-family-and-i/) [Joaquin Phoenix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joaquin-phoenix/) > [Animals know nothing of themselves, and they also know nothing of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/animals-know-nothing-of-themselves-and-they-also-know-nothing-of-the/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) [Mak\_786](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mak-786/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/) [Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/) > [A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-horse-a-horse-my-kingdom-for-a-horse/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“it is a federal system of sadistic torture, vivisection, and animal genocide, which has been carried on for decades under the fraudulent guise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tobias/it-is-a-federal-system-of-sadistic-torture-vivisection-and-animal/) [Michael Tobias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tobias/) > [“What does it mean to be a self-conscious animal? The idea is ludicrous, if it is not monstrous. It means to know that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-becker/what-does-it-mean-to-be-a-self-conscious-animal-the-idea-is-ludicrous/) [Ernest Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-becker/) > [We must love animals in such a powerful way that we should reject to eat them!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/we-must-love-animals-in-such-a-powerful-way-that-we-should-reject-to/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [I bet plants go like 'Weeeeeeeee!' whenever they're swallowed by a giraffe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-bet-plants-go-like-weeeeeeeee-whenever-they-re-swallowed-by-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) [Browse all 13,456 Animal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Arguably, if you view a real barn in bright sunlight and close by, while fully alert and otherwise in good shape, then you do know whether or not you see a barn. 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