The Eye as a Tool in the Pursuit of Knowledge

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Authors

Brown, Anna

Date of Issue

2024

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en_US

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Abstract

The eye has long held a special place in Western thought/philosophy as a symbol of how human beings perceive and construct knowledge. The use of the eye was essential in Renaissance art and literature, as artists and authors emphasized a needed skepticism of medieval frameworks. The eye is an important symbol for the construction of knowledge. For example, John Milton’s Paradise Lost explores the eye’s role as both a tool that gets us closer to truth and as an obstacle because our vices obscure our ability to see clearly. As the emphasis on the eye as a tool for knowledge became more prevalent, its limitations also became more evident, especially in post-war, twentieth-century Europe. T.S Eliot’s “The Wasteland” certainly emphasizes the role of the eye in meaning-making. Still, he also suggests that Western societies must confront the limits of their perception within their Western frameworks. Eliot calls for Western society and Europe specifically to recognize the complexities of pursuing knowledge where the eye is only one of many tools that should be used in the pursuit of knowledge. When we acknowledge both the uses and the limits of the eye in our construction of knowledge, we are better equipped to humbly and thoughtfully critique our operative epistemological frameworks amid an ever-changing world.

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