From visual abduction to abductive vision

Abstract

In order to fathom Peirce’s mind, and thereby in order to do science and philosophy in Peircean way, vision seems to be a perfect point of departure. For vision allows us to rethink what true interdisciplinarity would be like in our research. In this article, I shall show the central importance of visual abduction and abductive vision in our future study of abduction as well as Peirce’s thought. As exemplified well in Magnani’s study of abduction, we have good reasons to go with and beyond Peirce. After briefly scheming Peirce’s view on perception as abduction, I shall report what has been done in recent years in the fields of visual abduction and abductive vision. The centrality of visual abduction in Magnani’s theory of manipulative abduction will be one focal point. Another will be an examination of Raftopoulos’ discussion of abduction in late vision.