SENSES AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION

The concept of "body schema," as introduced by Merleau-Ponty, refers to an implicit and pre-reflective understanding of one's own body and its relationship to the outside world. Our movements and interactions with the outside world are guided by this dynamic, sensory map that is our body schema.

The concept of perception as an embodied act is highlighted by Merleau-Ponty, who rejects the idea that perception is merely a detached and passive process of taking in sensory data. Our perception and understanding of the world are fundamentally shaped by our body's sensory abilities.

Multiple senses are integrated in perception, according to Merleau-Ponty, who also claims that perception is not only dependent on discrete sensory inputs. He talks about how touch, vision, and other senses are intertwined and proposes that the body's perceptual system produces a cohesive and meaningful experience.

The Phenomenal Body: According to Merleau-Ponty, the body is a "phenomenal body" rather than merely a physical object. This indicates that how we perceive the outside world is inextricably linked to how we perceive our own body and its location in space.

Merleau-Ponty's Existential Spatiality examines how our subjective bodily sensations are entwined with our perception of space, rendering it less objective. Our comprehension of spatial relationships depends on how the body moves in space. 

REFERENCES

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2012). Phenomenology of perception. Taylor & Francis Group.