The Visual Hallucinations of the Phantom Eye: The Phantom Paradox of the Non-Image

Abstract

This article begins with the premise that an amputated eye -the phantom eye- can see ghosts. According to the author, visual hallucinations -those images perceived by the phantom eye- are ghosts. The aim of the article has two parts: the first is to explain visual hallucinations from two scientific perspectives: the phantom eye syndrome and the Charles Bonnet syndrome; the second seeks to explain these hallucinations from a non-scientific perspective through the analysis of a clinical case of an artist with an amputated eye who paints her hallucinations. The conclusion is that the artist sees ghosts, which allows for a critical examination of the concept of the image in the history of art.