The invention relates to a method of detecting an object in which pulses of transmitted light are repeatedly transmitted into a transmission zone by means of a light source; reception light received from the detection zone is detected by means of a detection apparatus which has a plurality of detectors; and an evaluation zone is defined which comprises a plurality of detectors and within which reception light is incident onto the detectors. The method is characterized in that a plurality of part regions are fixed within the evaluation zone; the part regions are at least partly successively evaluated while using a plurality of consecutive pulses of transmitted light; and the evaluations of the part regions are combined to determine the presence of an object in the detection zone.