Presence Varieties

The world is present in our thought and perception, but as Alva Noë contends in his latest exploration of the problem of consciousness, it doesn't show up for free. The world is achieved rather than given, similar to a painting in a gallery, which has no meaning or presence to be experienced apart from our able engagement with it. This means that education, skills acquisition, and technology can expand the world's availability to us and transform our consciousness.

Varieties of Presence, although deeply philosophical, is nurtured by collaboration with scientists and artists. Cognitive science, dance, and performance art, as well as Kant and Wittgenstein, inform this literary and personal work of scholarship, intended for artists and art theorists, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and anthropologists, as well as philosophers.

Noë rejects the traditional representational theory of mind and its companion internalism, dismissing the notion that conceptual knowledge is radically distinct from other forms of practical ability or know-how. For him, perceptual presence and thought presence are species of the same genus, both varieties of exploration through which we achieve contact with the world.

This far-ranging discussion includes forceful reflections on the nature of understanding, as well as substantial examination of the perceptual experience of pictures and what they depict or model. The world shows up for us, but we must show up too, bringing along the knowledge and skills we've cultivated. This collaborative work expands our understanding of consciousness and our engagement with the world.

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