Handbook of Experimental Phenomenology: Visual Perception of Shape, Space and Appearance

While the scientific study of vision is well-advanced and its concepts are widely agreed, there is still no universally accepted theory of qualitative visual appearances. Using such a theory, what we generally call objects in perception would effectively become collections of secondary qualities such as shape, direction, colour, transparency and luminosity, unified by the mind of the perceiver. Visual perception would thus become integrated into cognitive psychology, allowing for a more systematic and more broadly useful view than that offered by highly focused neuropsychological research.

Leading researchers around the world have taken up this challenge, and a body of knowledge has emerged as the new and interdisciplinary field of experimental phenomenology. This state-of-the-art handbook presents that knowledge, along with contextual material and new developments centered on the analysis of appearances. This emerging field has relevance and potential applications across a wide range of disciplines, and the stellar contributor list includes cognitive scientists, physicists, experimental psychologists, architectural designers, mathematicians and philosophers.