 This entry first examines the classical meaning of the term “sense data” and the concept of a sensory given. It then pursues the history of these notions, from the early modern period to the mid twentieth century, before turning to major critical responses that led to a decline in the popularity of sense data. Finally, it considers recent arguments for sense data and concludes by placing sense-data theory within a larger genus of perceptual theories that distinguish having sense impressions from the perception of individual objects.