Yanesha people of eastern Peru would agree with Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas in that knowledge can only be achieved through sense perception. They would, however, disagree on what exactly "sense perception" means. In the Western tradition the senses are considered to be the "physiological" modes of perception. We can only know, it is asserted, through the body and its senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. In contrast, Yanesha people view bodily senses as imperfect means of knowing, unable to grasp the true, spiritual dimension of the world. Only one of the non-corporeal components of the self, yecamquëñ or "our vitality", is endowed with the sensory faculties that allow for a correct perception, and thus for the possibility of "true" knowledge. It is for this reason that, from a Yanesha point of view, vitalities are sensual, whereas bodies are considered to be somewhat insensible. This article explores Yanesha non-corporeal modes of sensing and knowing, as well as their theories of perception and sensual hierarchies. My purpose is to advocate for a renewed anthropology of the senses in Amazonian studies, as well as to propose a critical revision of the notion of Amerindian perspectivism.
Amazonia; Peru; Yanesha; personhood; sensory perception; perspectivism
