It has appeared that, if we take any common object of the sort that is supposed to be known by the senses, what the senses immediately tell us is not the truth about the object as it is apart from us, but only the truth about certain sense-data which, so far as we can see, depend upon the relations between us and the object.
(Problems of Philosophy , Bertrand Russell, Chapter I)
What is the meaning of the word "as" in this context? Does it mean "because"?