Seeing Meaning: Revisiting Michotte’s Experimental Phenomenology

Abstract

Introduction

This study examines the role of meaning in visual perception, with a focus on how different theories of perception conceptualise the emergence and nature of meaning. In contemporary cognitive science, competing perspectives suggest that meaning arises through top-down predictive mechanisms, inferential hypothesis formation, or the transformation of sensory data into symbolic representations. Many such models maintain a strict separation between perception and meaning-making. In contrast, the current study centres on the work of Albert Michotte, whose experimental phenomenology offers an alternative view, namely, that meaning may be directly perceived. The aim is to examine how Michotte’s framework positions meaning within the perceptual process and to consider its relevance in light of current scientific discourse on perception.

Method

The study employs a literature review to examine primary and secondary sources related to Michotte’s experimental phenomenology. This includes an analysis of his original experimental designs and theoretical interpretations. The review also considers historical and philosophical influences on Michotte’s work, particularly from Franz Brentano, Carl Stumpf, and the Gestalt tradition, and situates his theory within the context of contemporary research in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy of perception. Special attention is given to the implications of Michotte’s claim that meaning is not inferred but directly experienced [1]. As Albertazzi notes, a central issue in this domain is that “visual appearances are naturally endowed with meaning,” [2] a proposition this study seeks to unpack and assess in a modern context. Furthermore, the review explores the extent to which Michotte’s insights continue to inform current empirical and theoretical investigations in the cognitive sciences.

Michotte’s Experimental Phenomenology

Michotte is best known for his work on the perception of causality, particularly through his launching effect experiments, as well as his studies on phenomenal reality, amodal completion, and the tunnel effect. Rooted in phenomenology, his work on perception unites empirical research with philosophical discourse. Influenced by Brentano’s intentionality, Stumpf’s phenomenology, and the Gestalt school, Michotte argued that “the role of the sensory input […] seems to be confined to the triggering of endogenous constructive processes which obey their own laws of organization, are largely autonomous and independent of experience, and bring forth the edifice of our phenomenal world.” [3]. He argued that meaning is not superimposed on perceptual data, a logical inference, but is directly experienced as part of the perceptual act itself.

References

[1] M. Michotte, G. Thinès, A. Costall, and G. Butterworth, Michotte’s experimental phenomenology of perception. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2016.

[2] L. Albertazzi, "Experimental Phenomenology: An Introduction," in Handbook of Experimental Phenomenology, L. Albertazzi, Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2013, pp. 1–36. doi: 10.1002/9781118329016.ch.

[3] R. Mausfeld, "The Attribute of Realness and the Internal Organization of Perceptual Reality’, in Handbook of Experimental Phenomenology, L. Albertazzi, Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2013, pp. 91–118. doi: 10.1002/9781118329016.ch3.