Sensing the world

More about the book

In the eighteenth century, influenced by empiricist philosophers and the ‘moral sense’ school, the distinction between feeling and thinking began to blur. During the 1760s, it was widely believed that private feelings of the heart were the primary motivators of moral behavior. The pleasurable sensations from benevolent actions fostered an understanding of the personal benefits of living a virtuous life. Achieving a true standard of taste required constant awareness of sensory perceptions, leading to a ‘fine tuning’ that endowed taste with authority. The Enlightenment emphasized the importance of recording and understanding bodily operations, positioning modern identity as deeply intertwined with the concepts of taste—both of oneself and the world. Contributors to this volume have collaborated over several years to explore these themes, presenting a diverse array of case studies that investigate how taste and the senses resonated during the Enlightenment. Their essays collectively address the vibrational interplay of taste and sensory experiences, highlighting the significance of heightened awareness in shaping perceptions and moral understanding in this transformative period.