Lectures on Perception - 9781138335257

Taylor & Francis

Lectures on Perception: An Ecological Perspective addresses the generic principles by which each and every kind of life form\u2014from single celled organisms (e.g., difflugia) to multi-celled organisms (e.g., primates)\u2014perceives the circumstances of their living so that they can behave adaptively. It focuses on the fundamental ability that relates each and every organism to its surroundings, namely, the ability to perceive things in the sense of how to get about among them and what to do, or not to do, with them. The book\u2019s core thesis breaks from the conventional interpretation of perception as a form of abduction based on innate hypotheses and acquired knowledge, and from the historical scientific focus on the perceptual abilities of animals, most especially those abilities ascribed to humankind. Specifically, it advances the thesis of perception as a matter of laws and principles at nature\u2019s ecological scale, and gives equal theoretical consideration to the percept.