[Revised entry by Robert Briscoe, Rick Grush, and Alison Springle on September 19, 2023.
Changes to: Main text, Bibliography]
Action is a means of acquiring perceptual information about the environment. Turning around, for example, alters your spatial relations to surrounding objects and, hence, which of their properties you visually perceive. Moving your hand over an object’s surface enables you to feel its shape, temperature, and texture. Sniffing and walking around a room enables you to track down the source of an unpleasant smell. Active or passive movements of the body can also generate useful sources of perceptual information (Gibson 1966, 1979)….

Originally appeared on Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Read More