The Phantom Limb and Body Image in Merleau-Ponty

The existence of phantom limb sensations has baffled physicians since at least the 16th Century. Today, phantom limbs are not uncommon: as many as 85% of amputees experience phantom limb sensations a week after amputation and perhaps 70% of this population suffers from some sort of phantom pain. Amputees ar

Researchers have conducted a number of studies that would support both Melzack’s and Merleau-Ponty’s explanations for the phantom limb phenomenon. In one review of literature on the subject, Anne Hill suggests, “Both physiological and psychological theories may explain some aspects… [but] [e]ven combined… they do not provide a comprehensive explanation of phantom phenomena, including phantom limb pain.” In addition, a recent experiment, which used positron emission tomography to monitor brain activity and hypnosis to control phantom limb movements, revealed that the same part of the brain that activates motor activity in intact limbs is also used in phantom limb movements of the same type. Both of these reports lend credence to the hypothesis that there exists in the brain something like a body image or a neurosignature that withstands actual bodily change and which should be considered as neither purely physiological nor purely psychological in nature.

Also, it would be appropriate to briefly mention that Merleau-Ponty makes a humanistic mistake that is common to philosophers, even after the spread of Darwin’s theories. Although humans undoubtedly establish more learned behaviors or habits than any other species, it is foolish to suggest that our instincts are entirely eliminated. Merleau-Ponty does not seem to be saying anything quite so severe, but he does seem to think that our habits come to subjugate our instincts. However, I would argue that even the tendency to learn new behaviors is an innate human capacity. The instinctual serves as a foundation for the habitual, but the latter never completely replaces the former. Our nearest primate relatives are known to rely greatly on instincts. Hence, the very nature of evolution as a gradual, continuous process necessitates that instincts play some role in human experience, albeit one somewhat muted by habituations.

However, there are a few conflicts between Merleau-Ponty’s conception and Melzack’s. For one, Melzack’s is very much akin to a ‘central theory,’ which Merleau-Ponty earlier debunked. Even though the neuromatrix encompasses a variety of circuits in the nervous system, it remains primarily confined to the brain. In this regard, the research would favor Melzack’s position, because even cutting the proper nerves in the spinal cord—far removed from the periphery—will seldom eliminate phantom limbs. It would be folly, however, to claim that the periphery has no impact on the generation of phantom limb sensations—the role is simply of lesser importance than Merleau-Ponty suspected based on the evidence he had at the time.

Within the last ten years, a consensus has been growing on the proper account for the mechanisms behind the phantom limb phenomenon. Psychologist Ronald Melzack has proffered an explanation, based on the existence of a ‘neuromatrix,’ that seems in accordance with much of what Merleau-Ponty has suggested. This neuromatrix is comprised of no less than three major neural pathways in the brain:

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