Navigare necesse est: a field theoretical approach to the perceptual control of motion

Based on our everyday experience, motion is often associated with a causal agency. This natural, anthropomorphic perspective became also common and dominant in philosophical and scientific conceptualization of motion. Even Newton’s theory of gravity implied an almighty agency. Field theory, developed in the 19th century, seems to have provided an alternative to this traditional view. For Einstein, however, both field theory and God were necessary in understanding Nature. A similar view is presented in this book on a more modest problem of understanding animal motion. Specifically, a generic field theory is developed to provide a foundation for the perceptual control of action in the mortal agents of Nature: humans and animals.