Skillful action in peripersonal space

Gabrielle Jackson

pp. 313-334

in: Phenomenology and the cognitive sciences 13 (2), 2014.

Abstract

In this article, I link the empirical hypothesis that neural representations of sensory stimulation near the body involve a unique motor component to the idea that the perceptual field is structured by skillful bodily activity. The neurophenomenological view that emerges is illuminating in its own right, though it may also have practical consequences. I argue that recent experiments attempting to alter the scope of these near space sensorimotor representations are actually equivocal in what they show. I propose resolving this ambiguity by treating these representations as responsive to the development or degeneration of know-how—which can be isolated as an appropriate object for scientific investigation.