Action in Perception

TLDR: Alva Noe argues that perception and perceptual consciousness depend on capacities for action and thought -- that perception is a kind of thoughtful activity and the problems posed by spatial content and the experience of color are examined.

Abstract: "Perception is not something that happens to us, or in us," writes Alva Noe "It is something we do" In Action in Perception, Noe argues that perception and perceptual consciousness depend on capacities for action and thought -- that perception is a kind of thoughtful activity Touch, not vision, should be our model for perception Perception is not a process in the brain, but a kind of skillful activity of the body as a whole We enact our perceptual experience To perceive, according to this enactive approach to perception, is not merely to have sensations; it is to have sensations that we understand In Action in Perception, Noe investigates the forms this understanding can take He begins by arguing, on both phenomenological and empirical grounds, that the content of perception is not like the content of a picture; the world is not given to consciousness all at once but is gained gradually by active inquiry and exploration Noe then argues that perceptual experience acquires content thanks to our possession and exercise of practical bodily knowledge, and examines, among other topics, the problems posed by spatial content and the experience of color He considers the perspectival aspect of the representational content of experience and assesses the place of thought and understanding in experience Finally, he explores the implications of the enactive approach for our understanding of the neuroscience of perception