A Social Enactive Theory of Perception - by Alejandro Arango (Hardcover)

About the Book

The social dimension of human life shapes or constitutes what perception is for us, that is, how we perceptually relate to the world.

Book Synopsis

The social dimension of human life shapes or constitutes what perception is for us, that is, how we perceptually relate to the world.

A Social Enactive Theory of Perception offers a unified study, in the enactivist tradition, of perception and its connection to sociality. Alejandro Arango looks for perception in the middle of everyday life and finds that perception is at home in perceptual practices, socially structured ways of relating to the perceptible world. These practices are attuned to different dimensions of human life, such as the cultural worlds of customs that play a role in our lives' unique character, aesthetic experience, interpersonal relations, and even social interactions that can be labeled welcoming and accepting, or racist and xenophobic. The book argues that although the perceiver is situated in relation to the world in many ways that influence perception, this does not entail a radical subjectivism. Rather, it shows that the world appears to perceivers in different ways or aspects since we relate differently to the same world The framework of perceptual practices can also be applied to our understanding of others, and the book argues that we understand others in part through perception. This framework allows us to understand others as bearers or social identities.

Bringing social philosophy together with philosophy of mind and taking the next step in enactivist philosophy, this theory accounts for the fundamental role of perception in the social aspect of everyday experience. With influences from Wittgensteinian pragmatism, phenomenology, and analytic philosophy of perception, as well as engagement with social psychology, social cognition studies, and work in neuroscience, the book synthesizes different layers at work in perception, paying important attention to the non-visual senses.

Review Quotes

"A Social Enactive Theory of Perception will deepen your understanding of perception, not just as an embodied process but also as a rich and complex social practice. Drawing together insights from pragmatism, phenomenology, and ecological psychology, Alejandro Arango shows convincingly that perception is not just something that happens to us, it is something we do-and it matters how we do it. By offering a situated, embodied, affective, and relational account of perception, this book gives us philosophical tools to grapple with the political stakes of perceiving race, gender, and other forms of social identity. A must-read for philosophers and social theorists alike!" --- Lisa Guenther, Queen's University, Canada

About the Author

Alejandro Arango is Lecturer of Philosophy at Gonzaga University, USA.