On the significance of the "lower" senses

touch, smell and taste

pp. 133-143

in: Karl Leidlmair, After cognitivism, Berlin, Springer, 2009

Abstract

The paradox of writing about something about which it is difficult to speak, at least when one wishes to describe what is special about the "lower" senses, particularly touch, leaves both reader and author with an uneasy feeling that the term does not adequately describe the object in question. A sense of remaining inexact and inadequate cannot be avoided, even if one uses the most elaborate and cryptic style – the moment of the inexplicable that is valid for sensual experiences in general and especially for the proximate senses, is reflected in many ways in the following text. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why the "lower" senses have hitherto received little attention within philosophy.