Are Pictures Peculiar Objects of Perception?

Journal of the American Philosophical Association 3 (3):372-393 (2017)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Are face-to-face perception and picture perception different perceptual phenomena? The question is controversial. On the one hand, philosophers have offered several solid arguments showing that, despite some resemblances, they are quite different perceptual phenomena and that pictures are special objects of perception. On the other hand, neuroscientists routinely use pictures in experimental settings as substitutes for normal objects, and this practice is successful in explaining how the human visual system works. But this seems to imply that face-to-face perception and picture perception are very similar, if not actually the same. How can we decide between these two opposite intuitions? Here I offer a regimentation of the notion of picture perception that can reconcile these two apparently conflicting ideas about pictures. It follows that philosophers and neuroscientists can maintain their respective stances without any theoretical conflict.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Seeing Depicted Space (or Not).Mikael Pettersson - forthcoming - In Anna Bergqvist & Robert Cowan (eds.), Evaluative Perception. Oxford University Press.
Pictures and singular thought.John Zeimbekis - 2010 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 68 (1):11-21.
Inflected and uninflected perception of pictures.Bence Nanay - 2010 - In Catharine Abell & Katerina Bantinaki (eds.), Philosophical Perspectives on Depiction. Oxford University Press.
Through the Flat Canvas: The Motor Meaning of Realistic Paintings.Silvano Zipoli Caiani - 2016 - Aisthesis: Pratiche, Linguaggi E Saperi Dell’Estetico 9 (2):197-217.
Aristotle on Common Perception.Laura Papish - 2014 - Apeiron 47 (3):342-55.
Pictures and beauty.Robert Hopkins - 1997 - Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 97 (2):177–194.
Intuition and Its Object.Kai Hauser - 2015 - Axiomathes 25 (3):253-281.
Objects for multisensory perception.Casey O’Callaghan - 2016 - Philosophical Studies 173 (5):1269-1289.
The primary objects of perception.David H. Sanford - 1976 - Mind 85 (April):189-208.
Perceiving pictures.Bence Nanay - 2011 - Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 10 (4):461-480.
Object Perception: Vision and Audition.Casey O’Callaghan - 2008 - Philosophy Compass 3 (4):803-829.
Understanding pictures.Dominic Lopes - 1996 - New York: Oxford University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2018-02-10

Downloads
42 (#332,204)

6 months
4 (#320,252)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Gabriele Ferretti
Ruhr University Bochum

References found in this work

The visual brain in action (precis).David Milner - 1998 - PSYCHE: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Research On Consciousness 4.
Conscious Vision in Action.Robert Briscoe & John Schwenkler - 2015 - Cognitive Science 39 (7):1435-1467.
Perceiving pictures.Bence Nanay - 2011 - Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences 10 (4):461-480.
Art and Illusion. A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation.George Boas - 1960 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 19 (2):229-229.
Egocentric Spatial Representation in Action and Perception.Robert Briscoe - 2009 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 79 (2):423-460.

View all 28 references / Add more references