Haptic perception: an historical approach

Abstract

The idea that perception or sensation may be localised in certain physical organs (e.g., skin) has a long tradition. It pervades many cultures. The system of sensory physiology (of which touch is one important element) is shaped by the influence of both medical thought and the philosophy of nature. Let us turn first to ancient Indian medicine or natural philosophy, as it appears in the Vedas. The Vedas are the most ancient Indian religious texts and consist for the most part of hymns, liturgical chants, sacrificial formulas and magic spells. The Rgveda, the oldest of the vedic texts, has not yet a verb for ‘touch’ or ‘feel’ and no expression for the corresponding sensation which — in a later text entitled Atharvaveda — is called sam-sparsa (feeling) [1]. In the Ayurveda, which forms an appendix to the Atharvaveda, the primeval matter (sattva) acts upon the fives senses of knowledge or buddhīndrīya (hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell — Fig. 1).