Unthinkable: Philosophers need to grapple with the
‘symphony of senses’ being discovered by science
Published: The Irish Times, May 16 2017, https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/aristotle-got-it-wrong-we-have-a-lot-more-than-five-senses-1.3079639
Thanks
are due to Oya Özağaç who found this text and forwarded it to me
Level of difficulty: ** (This is an easy level two; to be frank, it is between the two levels)
BEFORE YOU READ
·
Molyneux's
Question - Can It Be Solved?
·
Barry Smith: We have far more
than five senses
QUESTIONS
1. Barry Smith says “That was a good
question.” Why does he say this?
2. How does the writer reach the
conclusion that armchair philosophers are taking a simplistic view of the
question? By…
3. The story of the wine proves that
one sense / two senses / more than one sense / many senses may be involved in
the way we perceive objects or substances. Mark as many as necessary.
4. Aristotle is given as an example
of a philosopher …
5. Stand up and extend your arms
forward. Now lift first one foot then the other rapidly. Now try it with your
eyes closed. Is there a problem? Why?
6. You are asked to help with a
large suitcase. You go over prepared to lift it but it turns out to be empty
and very light. Why might you lose your balance? Your ….. has been misdirected.
7. What conclusion can we draw from
the examples in the text and the ones in questions 5 and 6?
8. Consider the example of the
aircraft. If the experience were a purely visual one,…
9. It is a mistake to base
perception on vision because whereas with other senses you don’t…., with vision
you do.
10.We understand from the example of the cup
that both…and …are necessary to correctly perceive the cup.
11. What general conclusion can we draw from the
text about how our perceptual system works?
12. Barry Smith differs from other philosophers
in that he believes that…..can be helpful to philosophy rather than a
hindrance. As such it should / it shouldn’t be disregarded.
WRITING TASK
Write an
essay or a paragraph discussing the reasons why we should accept that we have
more than five senses.
ARISTOTLE
GOT IT WRONG: WE HAVE A LOT MORE THAN FIVE SENSES; KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
This
wonderful text addresses an age old philosophical problem yet it is written in
a very straightforward and relatively simple way unlike most philosophy texts.
As such, it can be tackled by adult learners who really want to get their teeth
into a complex issue.
1. Because it forces people to
rethink their assumptions about perception
2. By assuming that
perception is merely sight
3. More than one sense, many senses
4. Who started
from the wrong construction of the phenomena, then produced a very clever piece
of philosophy which was worthless because it was not actually getting to grips
with how things really were.”
5. Yes there is. Your sense of
balance has gone wrong
6. Sense of effort
7. There
is a symphony of senses, and they are often so well-orchestrated with each
other that we don’t notice their operation.
8. The front of the plane would not
seem higher
9. A permanent visual scene
10. Visual and tactile information
11. The senses take multiple sources of information and then sum up what’s
going on out there.”
12. Science, it shouldn’t be
