Article ID: CBB538368407

Aristotle on Light and Vision: An ‘Ecological’ Interpretation (2022)

unapi

Scholarship on Aristotle’s theory of visual perception has traditionally held that Aristotle had a single, static, conception of light and that he believed that illumination occurred prior to and independent of the actions of colours. I contend that this view precludes the medium from becoming actually transparent, thus making vision impossible. I here offer an alternative to the traditional interpretation, using contemporary conceptual tools to make good philosophical sense of Aristotle’s position. I call my view the ‘ecological’ interpretation. It postulates two conceptions of light: non-visible mobile propagated light and visible static illumination produced by the interaction of propagated light with the environment’s coloured textured surfaces. I argue that these contemporary conceptual tools can find a foothold in and consistently enrich Aristotle’s extant position and that, with their aid, we can restore coherence to his theories of light and vision.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB538368407/

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Authors & Contributors
Smith, A. Mark
Darrigol, Olivier
Blay, Michel
Cavarra, Berenice
Diamond, Eli Charles
Hentschel, Klaus
Journals
Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Apeiron: Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science
Archive for History of Exact Sciences
Journal of Design History
Publishers
University of Chicago Press
University of North Carolina Press
Concepts
Optics
Light
Visual perception
Physics
Vision
Metaphors; analogies
People
Aristotle
Ptolemy
Plato
Albertus Magnus
Descartes, René
Galen
Time Periods
Ancient
Medieval
17th century
Early modern
13th century
19th century
Places
Greece
Rome (Italy)
Egypt
Middle and Near East
Institutions
Ikhwān al-Ṣafā (Brethren of Purity)
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