Constraining the neural representation of the visual world

Understanding the perception of all but the most impoverished and artificial scenes presents a different and probably far greater challenge from understanding face recognition, reading, or identification (or even categorization) of single objects. Central issues in the interpretation of structured objects and scenes are reviewed, starting with fundamentals such as the meaning of seeing. A theoretical approach to this formidable task is outlined, motivated by some recent developments in neuroscience and neurophilosophy.