Embodied Visual Perception – An Argument from Plessner

Thatcher’s Perceptual Illusion is presented as a case study to test the fruitfulness of
Helmuth Plessner’s Aesthesiology for contemporary philosophical and empirical research
on sensory perception (§1). In one reading, Thatcher Illusion’s seems to question Gestalt
Theory. We argue that it limits ideed its explanatory power, by forcing us to distinguish
physiognomic identity from emotional expression (§2). Although integrating Gestalt
Theory, Aesthesiology takes a further step into a thorough criticism of contemporary
reductions of Phenomenal Consciousness in terms of Qualia: an embodied-enactive
theory of perception (§3). Plessner’s insights into Geometry and Music as “symbolic
forms” grounded, respectively, on goal-directed action/objects manipulation, and on
emotional expression are expounded (§4). The Thatcher’s Illusion’s Puzzle is solved on the
basis of this Plessnerian distinction (§5).