Sight, Smell, Taste, Touch, Sound…and Sex?An Exploration of Alternate Senses in the Eighteenth Century

How many senses are there? For most people, the gut reaction to this seemingly simple question would be five, but in eighteenth-century Europe, many philosophers argued for six, seven, or more. Today, scientists have identified up to 33 different senses, and sensory anthropologists have shown that different cultures have radically different concepts of the sensorium. So, what makes a sense a sense?In this session, we’ll dig into this question by taking a closer look at two eighteenth-century sensory contenders: sex and common sense, both of which were intimately connected to discussions of virtue and vice, as well as pleasure and pain.