Hardy's stargazers and the astronomy of other minds

This essay argues that Thomas Hardy compares the act of observing another person to the scientific practice of observing the stars in order to reveal structural obstacles to accessing other minds. He draws on astronomy and optics to underscore the discrepancy between the full perception one has of one's own consciousness and the lack of such sensory evidence for the consciousness of others. His scenes of stargazing show such obstacles being temporarily overcome; the stargazer turns away from the thick sensory detail of earthly life and uses minimal visual information as a jumping-off point for the imagination. These visual journeys into space are analogous to those Hardy's readers experience as he wrests them out of their bodies into imaginary landscapes and unfamiliar minds.