Floaters
As one ages, black specks can appear in one’s visual field. These are called floaters. They are caused by bits of fiber detaching from the retina and are normally not a serious issue. A particularly large piece became noticeable to me not too long ago, like a little black spider hanging in the right periphery of my visual field. I went to a retinal specialist, who found no problem and said it might just stay there although after a while I wouldn’t even notice it anymore. Well, it’s still there, and I do still notice it occasionally. But it is even more on my mind than in my visual field. For the philosopher in me finds this commonplace phenomenon to be quite intriguing. The problem arises from how to speak about it. It seems perfectly natural for me to say that I see the floater. But wait a minute. Normally when we say we see something, we mean that we are looking at it with our eyes. More specifically, there are several conditions that need to be met, including: 1. ...