Laws of Organization in Perceptual Forms

Abstract

I stand at the window and see a house, trees, sky. Theoretically I might say there were 327 brightnesses and nuances of colour. Do I have "327"? No. I have sky, house, and trees. It is impossible to achieve "327 as such. And yet even though such droll calculation were possible and implied, say, for the house 120, the trees 90, the sky 117 - I should at least have this arrangement and division of the total, and not, say, 127 and 100 and 100; or 150 and 177. The concrete division which I see is not determined by some arbitrary mode of organization lying solely within my own pleasure; instead I see the arrangement and division which is given there before me. And what a remarkable process it is when some other mode of apprehension does succeed! I gaze for a long time from my window, adopt after some effort the most unreal attitude possible. And I discover that part of a window sash and part of a bare branch together compose an N.

Cite this document ^(BETA)