Essay
Merleau-Ponty, The Phantom Limb, and Pareidolia
The Phantom Limb and Our Existential Predicament
The amputee reaches out to grasp the handle, but nothing is there.
His hand, his arm, the familiar contours, and sensations that have always been part of his world are suddenly absent. Yet, in some strange way, they are still present. He feels the ghost of his missing limb, a haunting presence that refuses to disappear.
It’s as if his body doesn’t know how to let go, how to forget the rhythms and gestures that have shaped his every interaction with the world. When he tries to button his shirt or tie his shoes, his phantom hand goes through the motions, grasping at empty air.
This is not a mere trick of the mind, a fleeting illusion. It is his reality, his experience, and his body. The absence of his limb has torn a hole in the fabric of his existence, disrupting the seamless flow of his actions and perceptions.
Yet, even as he struggles to deal with this loss, he adapts and discovers new ways to navigate his environment. He slowly and hesitantly learns to rely on his remaining limb to incorporate new tools and techniques into his bodily schema.
It is a peculiar way of being — this negotiation between absence and presence —…
