Is the Visual World a Grand Illusion? (Paperback)

It's a bold statement and one that invites debate. The title of this volume of essays refers to new developments in the field of perceptual consciousness that question our automatic assertion that what we see represents a full and complete picture of the world around us. A thought-provoking collection of academic propositions examine every conceivable aspect of this field of study, demonstrably proving - as the editor asserts in her stimulating introduction - that there are important implications here for various subjects, principally philosophy, psychology and consciousness studies. Although the essays are collated as the latest edition in the Journal of Consciousness Studies - and thus with a specifically erudite audience in mind - any interested reader who browses through will certainly find much here to stimulate them. 'What we see fully and richly represents exactly what is': essentially a simple premise that some academics staunchly maintain and others hotly refute. People normally express their perceptions of the visual world in terms of great intensity, yet in recent years this prevailing wisdom has come into contention within the developing field of consciousness studies. Demonstrating the notorious unreliability of our perceptive faculties - such as the eye's blind spot or our inability to register change unless we literally see it moving before our eyes - many argue that our complacent assumption about what we perceive is fundamentally inaccurate and requires revision. Each essay included here posits a particular question and then seeks to either assert culpability or refute criticism. In the intriguingly titled 'Tinkerbell Effect', for example, the susceptibility of consciousness to persuasion is demonstrated paralleling the collective efforts of the audience in reviving the dying fairy in JM Barrie's story Peter Pan. Using a variety of illustrative examples that help clarify many of the more finely detailed points, academics from the UK and US investigate the subject in exhaustive detail, deeply probing visual perception in an attempt to seek objective truths that will withstand rigorous scrutiny. (Kirkus UK)

There is a traditional scepticism about whether the world 'out there' really is as we perceive it. A new breed of hyper-sceptics now challenges whether we even have the perceptual experience we think we have. According to these writers, perceptual consciousness is a kind of false consciousness. This view grows out of the discovery of phenomena like change blindness and inattentional blindness. Such radical scepticism has acute and widespread implications for the study of perception and consciousness. Contributors include: psychologists Susan Blackmore, Arien Mack and Bruce Bridgeman and philosophers Daniel Dennett, Andy Clark, Jonathan Cohen, and Charles Siewert.

General

Imprint:	Imprint Academic
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	June 2002
First published:	June 2002
Editors:	Alva Noe
Dimensions:	260 x 174 x 15mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade / Trade
Pages:	192
ISBN-13:	978-0-907845-23-2
Categories:	Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Physiological & neuro-psychology Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Philosophy & theory of psychology > General Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Cognition & cognitive psychology > Perception Promotions
LSN:	0-907845-23-1
Barcode:	9780907845232

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