What happens when we glance around a room? How do we trust what we see in fleeting moments? In The World at a Glance, Edward S. Casey describes how glancing counts for more of human perception than previously imagined. An entire universe is perceived in a glance, but our quick and uncommitted attention prevents examination of these rapid acts and processes. While breaking down this paradox, Casey surveys the glance as an essential way by which we acquaint ourselves with the world. This experiential tour-de-force reveals what happens in a blink of an eye. It will become a landmark study in phenomenology, philosophy, environmental philosophy, and the philosophy of mind.

How the simple act of glancing connects us to the wider world

About the Author

Edward S. Casey is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at SUNY-Stony Brook. He is the author of several books, including Getting Back into Place (IUP, 1993), Imagining (IUP, 1976), and Remembering (IUP, 1987).

Reviews

Elegantly written, this book, its erudition formidable, offers the reader an encyclopedic glance into a treasure-trove of information and knowledge bearing on vision: material in cinema studies, architecture, art criticism, world history, anthropology, urban studies, psychology, psychoanalysis, literature, and the natural sciences, as well as philosophy. To venture into its beckoning pages of stories is to undertake a richly rewarding journey, glancing at the world through configurations of time and space.Vol. IV.1 April 2009

-- David Kleinberg-Levin * Hyperion *

. . . Notable for its breadth and depth, the present title examines the range of information that one absorbs in rapid glances, i.e., 'blink of an eye' experiences that characterize visual interaction with the world. Looking at familiar, everyday events as well as examples from ancient history, linguistics, literature, art, photography, and ethics, Casey develops a narrative that will fascinate anyone interested in philosophy, psychology, and their interaction in the construction of the perceptual world. Even neuroscientists will appreciate the notion that enduring emotional and cognitive experiences are built from momentary visual impressions. . . . Essential.

* Choice *

The World at a Glance is . . . a challenging book, in every positive sense of the word. . . . The book's analyses are simultaneously wide-ranging and incredibly detailed, reflecting, no doubt intentionally, the very diversity and singularity of its subject matter. . . . Casey's work is effortlessly interdisciplinary, drawing on and responding to ideas from psychology, ecology, and art history. Yet while Casey's thinking is always informed by that of others, he develops a truly original line of inquiry.

* Continental Philosophy Review *



Book Information
ISBN 9780253218971
Author Edward S. Casey
Format Paperback
Page Count 520
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press