Sensuous Science

"Science states meanings; art expresses them." -John Dewey

In the context of Dewey's thoughts on Art as Experience, this all seemed well and good when I read it this morning. That was, until I read the following 'scientific' description of thresholds of human perception (limina) quoted on Mind Hacks:

"Approximate absolute sensitivities, expressed in everyday terms:

Vision – A candle flame seen at 30 miles on a dark, clear night

Hearing – The tick of a watch under quiet conditions at 20 feet

Taste – One teaspoon of sugar in two gallons of water

Smell – One drop of perfume diffused into the entire volume of a three-room apartment

Touch – The wing of a bee falling on your cheek from a distance of one centimeter"

- Galanter, E. (1962). Contemporary psychophysics. Holt, Rinehart, Winston.

Dewey again:

"Scientific statement is often thought to possess more than a signboard function and to disclose or be "expressive" of the inner nature of things. If it did, it would come into competition with art, and we should have to take sides and decide which of the two promulgates the more genuine revelation."