Do We Have a Visual Mind?

Kondor, Zsuzsanna (2015) Do We Have a Visual Mind? In: Beyond Words. Visual Learning (5). Peter Lang Verlag, Frankfurt, pp. 91-97. ISBN 978-3-631-66385-1

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Abstract

Casting a glance at the history of the two last centuries of philosophy, it becomes apparent that thanks to the oft- discussed anomalies of the dominant dualist- representationalist approach, new aspects in epistemology and philosophy of mind have entered the scene. Beyond the individual's cognitive capacity, the social character of language and beliefs has gained special emphasis, and beyond linguistic capability, visual and sensorimotor skills have become the focus of much research. At different stages of this process we used to get tangled up with the so-called linguistic turn and imagery debate, later it seemed we were witness to a pictorial turn, and recently certain kinds of enactive or activist approaches have emerged. In my talk I will outline this new branch of philosophical inquiry, including its advantages in resolving some old puzzles. I will suggest that though vision normally plays an important role even in basic cognitive processes, visual competence is, like other sense modalities, based on certain sensorimotor skills. Accordingly, I believe, our mind is deeply determined by our sensorimotor capabilities, i.e., we have rather a sensorimotor mind.

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