The Puzzle of Perspective

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Think

Department

Philosophy

ISSN

1477-1756

Volume

9

Issue

25

DOI

10.1017/S1477175610000072

First Page

57

Last Page

63

Publication Date

Summer 1-1-2010

Abstract

Here is an old philosophical puzzle. Take out a coin and look at it. It is a flat disk. Now tilt it so that you look at it on an angle. From an angle, there is some sense in which the tilted coin appears elliptical. But there is also a strong sense in which the tilted coin looks circular, like a flat disk. How can one object look both elliptical and circular at the same time? Thus, the puzzle of the tilted coin.

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