Eye See

Abstract

Challenged by a colleague to ‘depict the contemplation of self as “I”’, Ernst
Mach responds with an image: he draws what he sees of himself when he squints
with one eye. Viewing this image through the lens of certain writings and
conversations of Wittgenstein from the years 1929–31, I would like to ask: what
is this picture saying? And, if anything at all is being said: how is it said?
The ensuing discussion of the field of vision and visual space touches – among
other things – on a critique of idealism and realism, the difference between
complete and incomplete images, depiction in a proposition, and the hand as an
element. In this way, the question will lead us to consider possible aspects of
the expressive power of Mach’s image.