1923 – 2010
Richard Gregory (1923–2010) was a British neuropsychologist and philosopher of perception, Emeritus Professor at the University of Bristol. He is best known for his empirical and philosophical investigations into visual perception, optical illusions, and the relationship between perception and hypothesis-formation in the brain. His work bridged experimental psychology, cognitive science, and philosophy of mind, arguing that perception is an active, predictive process rather than passive reception.
Authored 'Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing' (1966), a landmark text on the psychology and philosophy of visual perception
Developed the influential 'perception as hypothesis' theory, framing perceptual experience as active inference
Founded the Exploratory science museum in Bristol (1987), pioneering public engagement with cognitive science
Contributed to debates on consciousness, artificial intelligence, and the limits of computationalism
Fellow of the Royal Society (elected 1992) for contributions to understanding brain and perception