ABSTRACT
In his early essay, Of the External Senses (hereafter ES), Adam Smith argues that we see, hear, and smell objects by simulating their tactile effects were they to make contact with our body.1 Perception then allows us to anticipate the most beneficial way to react to objects that we observe from a distance:
The benevolent purpose of nature in bestowing upon us the sense of seeing, is evidently to inform us concerning the situation and distance of the tangible objects which surround us. Upon the knowledge of this distance and situation depends the whole conduct of human life, in the most trifling as well as in the most important transactions.
