Introduction
Human beings cannot see their own heads. This is obvious. What is not obvious is whether this limitation is due to anatomical features (frontality, binocularity, etc.) or due to an optical feature inherent in the nature of visual representation itself, affecting any observer — including the conceivably perfect one.
Can such an ideal observer see himself? (I use the male gender in referring to this conceptual being for the sake of linguistic simplicity.)
The Ideal Observer and Self-Perception
Far from obvious, the answer to this question is that the ideal observer will see himself in his visual world in one sense of the term “see” but not in another.
- He will see himself in the world that he perceives in the sense that he can see his own location in relation to the other objects he sees.
- But he will not be able to see himself in the sense that, at that location (his head), no object appears. Rather, what he sees is a blind spot, a void.
Two Systems of Vision
This dual aspect — that the ideal observer can see himself as a void in his visual field — reveals that vision encompasses two mapping systems:
- A system of visual spatial reference – which creates a complete map of spatial localities.
- A system of visual appearances – which creates an incomplete map of appearances.
Philosophical Implications
Finally, the fact that a visual observer can see himself in the world, but sees himself as the limit of the world of objects, is a fact pregnant with philosophical implications — some of which I will briefly mention at the end of this paper.
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