Vision for action is more than Janus-faced

Vision has a dual life or possibly more. On the one hand, vision describes the environment as being a certain way. On the other hand, vision guides the execution of actions. Vision is, thus, Janus-faced: it is tied to both describing properties, this description being related also to spatial properties relevant for action, as well as to guiding the motor execution of that action. Philosophers and cognitive scientists have long studied this dual aspect of vision. However, this raises a fundamental question: how do descriptive functions and guiding functions offered by vision integrate with intentions? The motor acts, within visual guidance, complementing the properties visually described are, indeed, most of the time, intentional motor acts. So far, philosophers have either explored the relationship between vision’s descriptive and guiding roles (its Janus-faced nature) or the link between guidance and intention (the so-called Interface Problem). Here, we propose a framework that unifies these three domains, visual description, visual guidance of action, and intentionality, by offering a comprehensive account that connects the Janus-faced nature of vision with a solution to the Interface Problem. This makes vision more than Janus-faced.