The way a person begins to comprehend the world occurs by the method of the so-called "living contemplation." Usually, it is understood as sensory knowledge, or as a reflection of reality in the form of sensations, perceptions, and representations. Between the various philosophical currents, a debate arose over whether all these types of understanding are determined by social practice, or whether they can be reduced to mental activity (mainly passive) of an individual. In addition, another issue was raised in this debate that the main thing in this process is how the contemplated object acts on us, or how we construct this object with our brain activity.
Sensory knowledge begins with sensation. It arises in connection with the fact that some phenomena or their individual properties directly affect the human senses and create the first reflection of these phenomena in our consciousness. Therefore, even a theory appeared that we were only allowed to “grasp” certain properties, and whether the connections between them that we supposedly establish are real, is still unknown. Be that as it may, connecting the subject with the outside world and being one of the sources of information, sensations give an incomplete, very limited and one-sided picture of reality. A vivid example of this is the famous parable of the elephant and the four blind men who could not bind together what they felt.
Sensory cognition as a process continues with the next, more complex stage - perception. It already reflects the totality of properties inherent in objects and phenomena. That is, this stage of comprehension gives us a more holistic image, which we can divide into many aspects and nuances. At the same time, despite the fact that sensations are the foundation of perception, it does not come down only to their mechanical sum. This is a completely different form, which not only allows us to learn something new (for example, reveals to us the properties and features of certain objects), but also performs the function of regulating this process. Perception directs our activity, proceeding from the characteristic qualities of objects that became known to us thanks to him.
Sensory knowledge also creates images or representations, but not from the direct influence of objects on the subject, but from the memory of the traces of this effect that occurred earlier. Thus, this is a generalized picture of a phenomenon or object that we no longer see and hear. Moreover, such an image can not only reproduce the past, but can also be extrapolated to the future, becoming an imagination. The theories of Locke and Berkeley about human consciousness as a specific mirror creating an idea of the whole in its parts are interesting in this respect.
Thus, the initial methods of cognition are based on a more or less adequate reflection of a phenomenon or object in our brain due to feelings. However, in full they can be considered as such only when it comes to determining the source of our information about reality. Indeed, information of this kind can only be considered knowledge in the philosophical sense of the word, if it is associated with further mental activity, is subordinated to its categorical apparatus of logic and is controlled by it. In other words, if each such sensory form contains human meaning and significance, then it can be considered the first stage in understanding the world.
Without the triad sensation-perception-reflection, the basic levels of cognition would be impossible. However, it is limited in its essence and capabilities and cannot fully give the true or at least approximate to it with a significant degree of probability of informing about reality. This level is reached by the next stage of the process of comprehension, which goes beyond the limits of direct perception. This highest form of cognition, in comparison with sensory, is rational thinking.