ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two related phenomena—Gestalt perception and seeing-as—and explains how M. Merleau-Ponty analyses them. It argues that contrary to first appearances, they are in fact distinct phenomena, and whilst Merleau-Ponty does not provide a thematic discussion of seeing-as experiences, they are important to his understanding of artwork and images. It shows that a rich account of them can be drawn from his work. The chapter considers Merleau-Ponty's solution to the problem of illusion. Illusions are misperceptions. A distinction is often drawn between illusions and hallucinations. Merleau-Ponty's solution to the problem of illusion can be usefully set against the failures of C. Travis' account. In both Gestalt perceptions and seeing-as experiences, the subject's motor skills attune her to the world so that she is sensitive to its promptings. The Gestalten that characterize perceptual experience refer to the perceiver's abilities to act.
