The brain is a remarkably complex system, but its significance lies not only in its biological machinery but in its continuous relationship with the external world through perception. We study this relationship using modern neuroscientific tools such as PET, and fMRI, which allow us to observe aspects of brain activity underlying perception and cognition.

 

There is, however, another way of investigating this relationship: by examining cases in which perception appears to deviate from physical reality. Visual illusions provide a particularly powerful example. Rather than being treated simply as errors of the perceptual system, they can be understood as systematic and informative outputs that reveal how the brain constructs our experience of the world.

 

By developing theoretical accounts of visual illusions, we can gain insight into the mechanisms of perception and the relationship between appearance and the world we seek to understand. In this sense, appearances are not merely misleading; they are also part of the evidence through which the structure of perception becomes visible.

 

This book explores visual illusions as both psychological phenomena and philosophical case studies. It examines how different theories of visual illusions are developed and evaluated, and how these theories contribute to broader questions about scientific explanation, theory choice, and the relationship between perception and reality.