The Miracle of Vision: The Workings and Wonders of the Human Eye by Arthur S. Freese (review)

Books 73 away from prejudice, dogmatism and domination by authority and to encourage in them tolerance and respect for open-minded rational inquiry. Distributed throughout the 15 short chapters are: (a) remarks on the fallibility of all human thought; (b) descriptions of particularly fallible sources of belief, such as cultural bias, misuse of authority, rhetorical manipulation and fallaciousreasoning; (c)promises that the use of critical methods of belief formation will be rewarding and fun; (d) sketches of some techniques for acquiring beliefs rationally and (e) discussions of projects to undertake. o r persons to consult. in order to learn more about the rational pursuit of truth. Unfortunately, the discussion is confused, vastly oversimplified ,inconsistent and simply mistaken in the presentation of some basic concepts. Foremost among the problems with the book is the thorough confusion of theoretical approaches to understanding the nature of truth, the nature of knowledge and the reliability of methods of investigation. Regarding method, Moorman wants to point out that there are differences between reliable and unreliable methods and that even the most reliable ones sometimesmay go astray or be misused.But his basis for his claims about method appears in the guise of radical skepticism about the possibility of attaining knowledge and an incoherent view of the nature of truth. Repeatedly, readers are told that no oneever knows the (whole?, real?) truth about anything; that no method of investigation ever can reach the truth. Yet, in spite of this skeptical position on the impossibilityof getting things right (let alone knowing), he tells one that some methods of investigation are superior to others and that it is especially important that one learns to employ those that are superior. Given that all investigative methods are claimed to fail, it is not clear in what the superiority of one method over another is to consist. Nor does Moorman attempt to explain this point. The style of the book is condescending (thus authoritative), dogmatic and unreasoned. It thus exemplifiies what it tries to condemn. I suspect that, rather than cultivating cautious and open-minded scrutiny of belief, it will tend to promote that naive skepticism that is indifferent to the quality of any method of investigation. I do not recommend the book. He evaluates each theoretical approach and indicates which he thinks to be most viable. An important lesson of the book as a whole is that memory, which we so comfortably label with one word, comprises a diverse range of mental processes and systems. As Baddeley notes, it was not so long ago historically that memory was memory-a unitary phenomenon. By now, however, psychologists have found good reason to distinguish a number of different mnemonic functions operating in different ways for different purposes over different time scales. But he is far from dismayed. He emphasizes the substantial progress over the past few years in understanding how memory in its various aspects operates, and he values particularly a trend toward studying and trying to explain phenomena of memory as they occur in real-life circumstances, that is, outside a psychological laboratory. These two books have nothing to say about art as such. They do review a number of findings concerning visual imagery and visual memory and to that degree have direct bearing on the visual arts. But the best reason for reading them is for what they directly address: a phenomenon fundamental to art, in particular, and life as we live it, in general. The Miracle of Vision: The Workingsand Wondersof the Human Eye. Arthur S. Freese. Harper & Row, London, 1977. 181 pp. E4.50. Reviewed by Marc H. Bornstein* A miracle of vision is that it encompasses nearly all things cultural. The biology of evolutionary adaptation, species differentiation and individual development, assessment and treatment in clinical medicine, and mythology and philosophy areas much a part of understanding vision and the visualprocess as are the physics of light and energy, the anatomy of the visual system, the chemistry of molecular function, the physiology of nerve conduction, the psychophysics of visual ability, the psychology of perception, and the aesthetics of visual appreciation . The terms vision and insight themselves imply knowledge beyond understanding. This intricacy affords vision special status beyond the fact...