Seeing Dark Things: A Theory of Perception

FAIN: FB-51653-05

Roy Sorensen
Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH 03755-1808)

My goal is to complete a book that resolves a family of anomalies for the causal theory of perception. When combined with plausible background assumptions, the theory implies that we can see only those physical objects that send light to our eyes. However, we see things that are not physical objects (shadows, holes, waves) and see some physical objects that do not send light to our eyes (such as the black letters on this page). My solution is to make adjustments to the background assumptions and to attribute causal powers to absences. The result is a theory of how we see dark things.