For thirty-five yearsVisual Thinkinghas been the gold standard for art educators, psychologists, and general readers alike. In this seminal work, Arnheim, author ofThe Dynamics of Architectural Form, Film as Art, Toward a Psychology of Art,andArt and Visual Perception,asserts that all thinking (not just thinking related to art) is basically perceptual in nature, and that the ancient dichotomy between seeing and thinking, between perceiving and reasoning, is false and misleading. An indis-pensable tool for students and for those interested in the arts.

Rudolf Arnheim is Professor Emeritus of the Psychology of Art at Harvard University.

1. Early Stirrings

Perception torn from thinking,

2

(2)

The senses mistrusted,

4

(2)

Plato of two minds,

6

(2)

Aristotle from below and from above,

8

(5)

2. The Intelligence of Perception (i)

13

(24)

Perception as cognition,

13

(2)

Perception circumscribed,

15

(2)

Exploring the remote,

17

(1)

The senses vary,

17

(2)

Vision is selective,

19

(4)

Fixation solves a problem,

23

(3)

Discernment in depth,

26

(1)

Shapes are concepts,

27

(2)

Perception takes time,

29

(2)

How machines read shape,

31

(2)

Completing the incomplete,

33

(4)

3. The Intelligence of Perception (ii)

37

(17)

Subtracting the context,

37

(3)

Brightness and shape as such,

40

(3)

Three attitudes,

43

(3)

Keeping the context,

46

(1)

The abstraction of shape,

47

(4)

Distortion calls for abstraction,

51

(1)

Permanence and change,

52

(2)

4. Two and Two Together

54

(26)

Relations depend on structure,

54

(6)

Pairing affects the partners,

60

(5)

Perception discriminates,

65

(1)

Perception compares,

66

(3)

What looks alike?

69

(3)

Mind versus computer,

72

(8)

5. The Past in the Present

80

(17)

Forces acting on memory,

81

(3)

Percepts supplemented,

84

(3)

To see the inside,

87

(2)

Visible gaps,

89

(1)

Recognition,

90

(7)

6. The Images of Thought

97

(19)

What are mental images like?

98

(2)

Can one think without images?

100

(2)

Particular and generic images,

102

(5)

Visual hints and flashes,

107

(2)

How abstract can an image be?

109

(7)

7. Concepts Take Shape

116

(19)

Abstract gestures,

117

(1)

A pictorial example,

118

(2)

Experiments with drawings,

120

(9)

Thought in visible action,

129

(6)

8. Pictures, Symbols, and Signs

135

(18)

Three functions of images,

135

(5)

Images to suit their functions,

140

(4)

What trademarks can tell,

144

(4)

Experience interacting with ideas,

148

(2)

Two scales of abstraction,

150

(3)

9. What Abstraction Is Not

153

(20)

A harmful dichotomy,

154

(3)

Abstraction based on generalization?

157

(6)

Generality comes first,

163

(10)

Sampling versus abstraction, 169.

10. What Abstraction Is

173

(15)

Types and containers,

174

(4)

Static and dynamic concepts,

178

(4)

Concepts as highspots,

182

(4)

On generalization,

186

(2)

11. With Feet on the Ground

188

(20)

Abstraction as withdrawal,

188

(3)

The extraction of principle,

191

(3)

Against the grain,

194

(5)

In lace with classification,

199

(3)

In touch with experience,

202

(6)

12. Thinking With Pure Shapes

208

(18)

Numbers reflect life,

208

(3)

Quantities perceived,

211

(2)

Numbers as visible shapes,

213

(4)

Meaningless shapes make trouble,

217

(5)

Self-evident geometry,

222

(4)

13. Words in Their Place

226

(28)

Can one think in words?

227

(2)

Words as images,

229

(3)

Words point to percepts,

232

(1)

Intuitive and intellectual cognition,

233

(5)

What words do for images,

238

(2)

The imagery of logical links,

240

(2)

Language overrated,

242

(4)

The effect of linearity,

246

(5)

Verbal versus pictorial concepts,

251

(3)

14. Art and Thought

254

(20)

Thinking in children's drawings,

255

(5)

Personal problems worked out,

260

(3)

Cognitive operations,

263

(6)

Abstract patterns in visual art,

269

(5)

15. Models for Theory

274

(20)

Cosmological shapes,

274

(6)

The nonvisual made visible,

280

(2)

Models have limits,

282

(1)

Figure and ground and beyond,

283

(4)

Infinity and the sphere,

287

(3)

The stretch of imagination,

290

(4)

16. Vision in Education

294

(23)

What is art for?

295

(1)

Pictures as propositions,

296

(3)

Standard images and art,

299

(2)

Looking and understanding,

301

(4)

How illustrations teach,

305

(3)

Problems of visual aid,

308

(5)

Focus on function,

313

(2)

The burden of it all,

315

(2)

Notes

317

(8)

Bibliography

325

(14)

Index

339

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