“Unless I Put My Hand into His Side, I Will Not Believe”
Olivier Massin, Frédérique de Vignemont
Abstract
Touch seems to enjoy some epistemic advantage over the other senses when it comes to attesting to the reality of external objects. The question is not whether only what appears in tactile experiences is real. It is whether only what appears in tactile experiences <italic>feels</italic> real to the subject. This chapter first clarifies how the rather vague idea of an epistemic advantage of touch over the other senses should be interpreted. It then defends a “muscular thesis,” to the effect that only the experience of resistance to our motor efforts, as it arises in effortful touch, presents us with the independent existence of some causally empowered object. Finally the chapter considers whether this muscular thesis applies to the perception of our own body.