 As we have seen, Mill holds that “a great part of what seems observation is really inference” (System, VIII: 641). The raw content of experience is itself extremely narrow—indeed, Mill holds, we directly perceive only our own internal impressions. “From my senses, I have only the sensations” (System, VIII: 643). The claim is a strong one—that what is directly present to the mind are not external objects, but only “a set of appearances” (System, VIII: 783). We have unmediated access only to the impression that are generated in us—we are directly aware only of our own mental content.