Sensation

Reflecting individual attributes of objective things directly acting on sensory organs is the start of the cognitive process. The occurrence of sensation is the result of objective things acting on human sensory organs, as well as the interaction of human sensory organs, neural system and brain functions. Different feelings reflect the quality and characteristics from different aspects of the same thing. Sensation is not unique to human beings—all animals with central nervous system have sensation. However, human sensation is qualitatively different from that of animals. Human sensation is not only the result of natural development, but rather the product of social development.

Lenin pointed out: “Sensation is an image of matter in motion. Save through sensations, we can know nothing either of the forms of matter or of the forms of motion; sensations are evoked by the action of matter in motion upon our sense-organs. That is how science views it.” After external characteristics of objective matters directly act on certain sensory organs of human body, nerve impulses inside the organs are conducted to specific parts of cerebral cortex through sensory nerves, and then sensation occurs. Sensations can be divided into two main categories, depending on the analyzers that produce them and the stimuli they reflect: those produced by stimuli acting on external analyzers, such as sight, hearing, taste and touch; and those produced by stimuli acting on internal analyzers, such as motor sensations, balance sensations and organ sensations. In addition, both external and internal analyzers can produce sense of pain. Human sensation is highly developed under complex living conditions and in the context of activities that transform reality. It is qualitatively different from animal sensation, which is only the result of natural development, whereas the former is the product of social development. Sensation occupies an important position in cognition. It is the beginning of the transformation from objective existence to consciousness, and the starting point of cognition. However, sensation is only cognition in the sensual stage. It reflects characteristics of a certain side or a certain part of a matter, and cannot reflect the whole thing due to limitations. Sensation is not the end of people’s cognition. Sensual knowledge should be further developed to rational knowledge.

The theory of sensation is a key issue in Lenin’s book Materialism and Empirio-Criticism, and is the foundation and crucial component of Lenin’s theory of reflection. Lenin’s theory of sensation mainly includes the following aspects: Objective things and phenomena act on human sensory organs to cause sensation; sensation is the source of knowledge; the objective world is the source of sensation; sensation is the approximate reflection of the object on the subject, and there are objective contents in sensation that do not depend on the reflector. Practice tests the correctness of sensation, and people develop and perfect their own sensory abilities in practice. Lenin’s theory of sensation not only upholds the historical materialism’s consistent standpoint, but also clarifies the dialectics in the sensory process, and points out the internal connection between materialist theory of sensation and dialectics.