From sensation to consciousness: Suggestions in modern philosophy

The paper deals with the transformation of sensation concept throughout modern thinking. A particular focus is laid on the transition of sensation from the external - the body and his surface - into the inside - the depth and darkness of human consciousness. If "nothing but a body can touch and be touched" (Lucretius), it is namely in the passivity, in the stance of "being touched", that sensation forces a passage towards the inside, the mind, the soul, and modifies it. Modern philosophy changes the way of thinking this passage, in accordance with a new concept of subject and consciousness, and with a renewed approach to the mind-body connection. Focus of the paper are the theories of Malebranche and Condillac, as, notwithstanding the basic difference of their argumentative stance, they both propose a new path for this transiction. The pervasive power ascribed to sensation is instrumental in engendering a new enlarged representation of the inner space of the consciousness.