Embodied Visual Perception. An Argument from Plessner (1923)

The Thatcher Illusion, where an upside-down face with inverted features appears normal until the image is rotated, challenges Gestalt theory's explanatory power by forcing a distinction between physiognomic identity (recognizing a face as such) and emotional expression (reading its affect). Helmuth Plessner's Aesthesiology, which integrates Gestalt insights, goes further by critiquing reductions of phenomenal consciousness to qualia and offering an embodied-enactive theory of perception. Plessner treats geometry and music as symbolic forms grounded, respectively, in goal-directed action and object manipulation versus emotional expression. The illusion is resolved using this distinction between identity and expression.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Thatcher’s Perceptual Illusion is presented as a case study to test the fruitfulness of Helmuth Plessner’s Aesthesiology for contemporary philosophical and empirical research on sensory perception (§1). In one reading, Thatcher Illusion’s seems to question Gestalt Theory. We argue that it limits ideed its explanatory power, by forcing us to distinguish physiognomic identity from emotional expression (§2). Although integrating Gestalt Theory, Aesthesiology takes a further step into a thorough criticism of contemporary reductions of Phenomenal Consciousness in terms of Qualia: an embodied-enactive theory of perception (§3). Plessner’s insights into Geometry and Music as “symbolic forms” grounded, respectively, on goal-directed action/objects manipulation, and on emotional expression are expounded (§4). The Thatcher’s Illusion’s Puzzle is solved on the basis of this Plessnerian distinction (§5).