SR Therapies

Social Order and the Sense of Smell

It is often quoted in various ways that smells are a threat to the social order, and the abhorrence of smells produces its own form of social power, whereas the reassuring victory of the hygienic and the fragrant promises to buttress its stability, it would be futile to analyze the social tensions and conflicts that are caused by unwanted and disturbing smells, without accounting for the different kinds of sensibilities that decisively influence them, the important point here is that the development of alertness to the sensory environment and the awareness of the sense of smell have become a potent tool in discerning, pleasant and unpleasant experiences.(Corbin 1966).

The origin of smell, is the origin of sensation, the sense of smell appears to grow, with the development of intelligence, and perhaps the most important element in the bonding of relationships, is the pre-condition of intimacy, this becomes the reminder of sensuous animal instincts. All scientists and philosophers have found themselves obliged to engage with sensualism, however great their resistance, they have been unable to escape it’s potent influence. (Corbin 1966)