Estudo teórico sobre percepção sensorial: comparação entre William James e Joaquin Fuster

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate the concept of perception in Philosophy and Neuroscience. For this, we describe some historical aspects of cognitive neuroscience on the higher psychological functions, as well as emphasize the importance of perception in the study of human development and the socio-educational. In Philosophy, two large conceptions of sensation and perception are part of the philosophical tradition: Empiricism and Rationalism. In the twentieth century, however, the philosophy changed much these two traditions through a new conception of sensitive knowledge. The changes were brought about by the phenomenology and the psychology of form or Gestalt theory. The perception is closely linked to the senses, being the first steps taken by the sensory systems responsible for its analytical phase. It is as if each is separated into its constituent parts, such as shape, color, movement and so on. However, we perceive the world with uncompromising integrity and not with feelings fractionated, which suggests that there are other mechanisms besides those of analytical nature, which contribute to our synthetic perception. It is necessary to understand how perception, strictly subjective concept, relates to the brain, an approach widely studied by Cognitive Neuroscience. Finally, we highlight the important research on the perception held by contemporary neuroscientist Joaquin Fuster, showing how William James, in the late nineteenth century, had written very similarly.