The World at a Glance [Paperback]

What happens when we glance around a room? How do we trust what we see in fleeting moments? In The World at a Glance, Edward S. Casey describes how glancing counts for more of human perception than previously imagined. An entire universe is perceived in a glance, but our quick and uncommitted attention prevents examination of these rapid acts and processes. While breaking down this paradox, Casey surveys the glance as an essential way by which we acquaint ourselves with the world. This experiential tour-de-force reveals what happens in a blink of an eye. It will become a landmark study in phenomenology, philosophy, environmental philosophy, and the philosophy of mind.

Edward S. Casey is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at SUNYStony Brook. He is the author of several books, including Getting Back into Place (IUP, 1993), Imagining (IUP, 1976), and Remembering (IUP, 1987).

Contents<\>
Acknowledgments
Prologue: Regaining the Glance

Introduction: Taking in the World at a Glance

Part One: Approximating to the Glance
1. Getting into the Glance
2. Coming Closer to the Glance
3. Becoming and Being Oriented by the Glance
4. The Hegemony of the Gaze

Part Two: Glancing Earlier and Farther Afield
5. The Glance in Ancient Athens
6. The Sudden, the Surprising, and the Wondrous: With Walter Benjamin on the Streets of Paris
Coda

Part Three: Getting Inside the Glance
7. The Singularity of the Glance
8. Glancing Time
9. Attending and Glancing

Part Four: Praxis of the Glance
10. The Ethics of the Glance
11. The Natural Environment in a Glance
12. Glancing at the Image in Photography and Painting

Concluding Thoughts: Catching Sight of Surprise
Afterword: Families of the Glance and the Gaze

Index