Vision and principle of correspondence in Descartes

Abstract

When Descartes wrote the Dioptrics, there was no sufficient explanation about the transmission of the image from the retina to the brain. When considering the nerve function during the transmission of the image, Descartes went beyond everything that, at his time, was assured about it, by emphasizing the role of the optic nerve. Such aspect of the analysis of retinian image transmissions is added to another that becomes relevant during the establishment of the Cartesian theory of knowledge, that is what refers to the absence of need of the absolute resemblance between image and object.