giovedì 3 ottobre 2013

Unit 4 - October 10th

The constitution of the perceptual world
Max Wertheimer (1923) Laws of Organization in Perceptual Forms

A. Gurwitsch, Some principles of Gestalt theory, in The Field of consciousness, 1964, pp. 87-153
Download the pdf

M. Merleau-Ponty, Le primat de la perception et ses conséquences philosophiques, 1946
Download the pdf (only in ITALIAN)

In ENGLISH you can read "The phenomenal field", in Phenomenology of perception, pp. 60-74
https://wiki.brown.edu/confluence/download/attachments/73535007/Phenomenology+of+Perception.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1286305678000

(in French you can read also: La perception selon Merleau-Ponty - Philopsis)

Do you want to know more about these guys? Check here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Wertheimer
http://www.gurwitsch.net/bio.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Merleau-Ponty

3 commenti:

  1. Questo commento è stato eliminato dall'autore.

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  2. Phenomenology of perception
    Submitted by: Ebtehal Elgamrawy

    The field of science and the methodology of perception have in countered different conceptualization of understanding reality. Studying the physiological evidence of the world was never enough to reflect the reality of the world, it diminished an important factor of perception of what’s beyond physical attribute.
    Back in centuries they approved that physical gestures and appearance didn’t only reflect what is perceived. But, in fact there was more on to it and to the assumption that it’s a balanced equation. Keeping in consideration, that it is only supposedly balanced if in theory a society of balanced biological and economical excited.
    Therefore, it is time to go back to “actual experience”, where we measure it beyond the scientific scope of objective world but endorse a new eye to rediscover the world and phenomenon’s it shadow by starting to use our inner perception in a way.
    The trick starts with breaking out of all pre defined external perjudice or understanding. However, the process in itself is very hard to speculate. Since we tend to move, to organize faces and gestures into visual data and store them for immediate recollection when needed instead of a new trial to visualize everything for the first time or in a way to see everything.
    It was perfectly stated that “Nothing is more hard than to know precisely what we see”. That’s why there is a process we aim to go through if we want to reach phenomenal being by understanding that perception hides itself from itself.
    Moreover, another level to understand the phenomena of perception is the difference between two kinds of psychology; phenomenological psychology and introspective psychology.
    Reading more into psychological approach of understanding perception and its relation in the perception of conciseness and weathers it’s a process of internal or external view of the world puzzled me in how it’s meant to be and how now it is perceived like. That before it didn’t have to be based on rationalized reasons but could be based on pure reflection of being part of an experience in a sense. That the more we know it’s merely part of the reality of the unseen of the world and it’ s not always an objective outcome of actions, consequences and understanding, that’s all in a sense still part of limited power of universe. In a nutshell, that past experience and understanding will always be part of method of thinking however the trick is to endorse a new mean of understanding, reflecting and embracing.
    Finally, I believe the paper, aimed mostly on demonstrating the background of perception phenomena from abstract format in the beginning to a very focused psychological approach by the mid end aiming to state that it will not be possible to explain perception phenomena with no true understanding of the current processing of perception on psychologist framework In the sense that psychology is truly defined in a sense of true knowledge hub, and for apply perception in a new efficient way you will aim to not just reflect but reflect on your reflections and even embrace the reflection of unreflective experiences.

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  3. "The phenomenal field", in Phenomenology of perception, pp. 60-74
    The authors provide their ideas on perception and how it affects any reflection of ´the observed´ because our senses are active and actively interpreting what we take in. The following passages indicate the core of their view. Some of them speak for themselves, to other passages I will add my (brief) opinion.
    - p.61 "Sense experience [...] invests the quality with vital value, grasping it first in its meaning for us, for that heavy mass which is our body, whence it comes about that it always involves a reference to the body."
    This is at the core of perception: relating something to a self experienced previous experience.
    - p.61 "The distinction between the perceptiual life and the concept [...] is no longer abolished by analytical reflection, since we are no longer forced [...] to look to some connecting activity for our principle of all coordination."
    - p.61 "We shall try to bring out in relation to perception, both the instinctive substructure and the superstructures erected upon it by the exercise of intelligence."
    - p.62 "... 'sensation' and 'judgement' have together lost their apparent clearness: we have observed that they were clear only as long as the prejudice in favour of the world was maintained."
    With this the authors indicate the connection, intertwining even, of the senses and the interpretation of what comes in. This asks for a way to reach un-judged experience, where actually discover the phenomena. Realizing this immediately poses the problem of un-judged experience: how can we prevent prejudice, as it is often an automatic/subconscious process. In a later passage they address how 'transparent philosophy regards percaption:
    - p.65 "It could be held that perception is an incipient science, science a methodical and complete perception"
    The subsequent return to the ‘immediate data of consciousness’ became therefore problematic, since the critical philosophic attitude was trying to be what it could not see.
    - p.62 "The tacit thesis of perception is that at every instant experience can be coordinated with that of the previous instant and that of the following, and my perspective with that of other consciousnesses [...] that what is now indeterminate for me could become determinate for a more complex knowledge.
    Later the Gestalt theory is introduced. The principle of Gestalt psychology maintains that the human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts, suggesting the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Note that this not only goes for eyesight, but also for the other senses: when listening to music you first (and foremost) hear the song before you hear the individual components (singing, guitar, drums etc.). Gestalt psychology tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain stable percepts in a noisy world.

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