ABSTRACT
In a modern psychology text-book on sense-perception the tenth chapter puts together pressure and pain. The sensible qualities of physical objects, it may be said, can be perceived by anybody whose sense-organs are suitably placed, and in a suitable condition. The sensible qualities of physical objects can still qualify the objects they do qualify, even when nobody is perceiving them. But somebody who wanted to assimilate bodily sensations to sensible qualities could say that all this proved was that heat was a quality immediately perceived by two senses—tactual perception and bodily perception—while pain-quality and itch-quality were immediately perceived by bodily sense only. Perception implies the possibility of misperception. It is embarrassing to be asked, for instance, whether sensation did or did not retain exactly the same qualitative characteristics, and the same bodily location, during the period of distraction.
