Abstract

A recent textbook on the psychology of visual perception is reviewed (N. Bruno, Introduzione alla psicologia della percezione visiva, Il Mulino, 2021). Three points are focused: the lack of an explicit reference to fundamental themes in the philosophy of mind, related to the hard problem of consciousness, qualia and the explanatory gap; the need for a better discussion of concepts like proximal stimulus and retinal image; the need for a more structured analysis of top-down effects. The role of textbooks in consolidating a scientific discipline is emphasized