The term ‘hallucination’ is of surprisingly recent coinage
conceived as a primary distinction between misperceptions, termed ‘illusions’, and perceptions constructed entirely by the mind. Interpreting a fleeting shadow as a person or hearing a voice in a babbling stream are illusions;
but ‘if a man has the intimate conviction of actually perceiving a sensation for which there is no external object, he is in a hallucinatory state; he is a visionary’ (visionnaire).
Hallucinations, like dreams, are independent of the senses: those who experience them might be said to be ‘dreaming while awake’.
conceived as a primary distinction between misperceptions, termed ‘illusions’, and perceptions constructed entirely by the mind. Interpreting a fleeting shadow as a person or hearing a voice in a babbling stream are illusions;
but ‘if a man has the intimate conviction of actually perceiving a sensation for which there is no external object, he is in a hallucinatory state; he is a visionary’ (visionnaire).
Hallucinations, like dreams, are independent of the senses: those who experience them might be said to be ‘dreaming while awake’.
No comments:
Post a Comment