Notes on observation from Borderliners, a novel by Peter Hoeg.
…he wrote that he was following the trail blazed by Helmholtz and Kant. They had insisted that it is impossible to perceive the reality that surrounds us – or to perceive ourselves – any way other than through the senses. And the senses are not passive receivers of reality, they process it. That which we perceive is heavily processed. So there is no point in talking about an actual reality, that outside of ourselves. That we have no knowledge of.
Borderliners, Peter Hoeg, Panther, 1996
This article was posted by Ronan McDonnell on
Monday, April 12th, 2010 at
02:55.
It is archived in Culture, Myth, Religion, Science and tagged Borderliners, Danish Fiction, Helmhotz, introspection, Kant, Peter Hoeg, reality.
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