Forthcoing in the Monist The Vanishing Point:

Abstract

The vanishing point is a representational gap that organizes the visual field. Study of this singularity revolutionized art in the fifteenth century. Further reflection on the vanishing point invites the conjecture that the self is an absence. This paper opens with perceptual peculiarities of the vanishing point and closes with the metaphysics of personal identity. 1. Is the vanishing point visible? I am looking down a railroad track (figure 1). The rails seem to converge in the distance. This point on the horizon at which receding parallel lines meet is called “the vanishing point”. I can see that it is at the center of my visual field. But can I see the vanishing point? 1 Figure 1 The vanishing point seems visible because I can point straight at it. I can move my thumb over the vanishing point and thereby block my view of it. For the sake of a contrast, suppose I had an amputated field of vision. Figure 2 depicts my hypothetical plight