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\title{Eidetic Variations on Viewing and Understanding}
\author{Greg Hudson}
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``Viewing'' and ``understanding'' are two similar phenomenological
terms which we have approached from different angles: viewing is the
ontological phenomenon of which staring at, remembering, and
considering are ontic modes; understanding is a rational ontic mode of
disclosure, which is a process of becoming familiar with a situation.

The essential difference between viewing and understanding is that
viewing implies only a direction of attention upon a situation, while
understanding involves a change in level of familiarity with a
situation.  To illustrate this, consider the act of staring at a tape
recorder.  If I do not already understand tape recorders, the most I
can do by staring at the tape recorder is size it up, and beyond that,
I will not develop any further understanding of it.  Yet, I am still
viewing the tape recorder by staring at it.

Thus we can have viewing without understnding.  It is a bit more
far-fetched to consider understanding without viewing; we might try to
familiarize ourselves with a situation by examining the circumstances
surrounding it without viewing the situation itself, but this probably
qualifies as another ontic mode of viewing.  For instance, when we
test a piece of software by treating it as a black box, we try not to
consider the implementation of the software, but we are probably still
viewing it in our attempt to gain understanding of it.

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