The Perspectival Character of Perception

In perception, one can transcend the limitations imposed by one's perspective and see things, in many respects, as they really are. For example, a circular coin can reflect dramatically different patterns of light to your eyes, depending on the angle from which you view it. Each of these patter...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of philosophy 2018-04, Vol.115 (4), p.187-214
Main Author: Lande, Kevin J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ambiguity
Perspective (Art)
Philosophy of mind
Sensory perception
Social identity
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Summary:In perception, one can transcend the limitations imposed by one's perspective and see things, in many respects, as they really are. For example, a circular coin can reflect dramatically different patterns of light to your eyes, depending on the angle from which you view it. Each of these patterns of light could have been reflected by infinitely many different types of surfaces of different shapes and sizes. On the face of it, these ever-changing and always ambiguous patterns of light at the eye carry little information about the shape and size of the coin. Yet you normally can see the coin as having a unique size and shape. The size and shape you see the coin as having normally remains the same from one viewpoint to the next -- this is known as size constancy and shape constancy. And, normally, you can see the size and shape of the coin accurately.
ISSN:0022-362X
1939-8549
DOI:10.5840/jphil2018115413