Grief, smell and the olfactory air of a person

Millar, Becky and Richardson, Louise 2024. Grief, smell and the olfactory air of a person. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 104 (4) , pp. 769-790. 10.1111/papq.12443

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Abstract

Philosophical research into olfaction often focuses on its limitations. We explore instead an underappreciated capacity of the sense of smell, namely, its role in interpersonal experience. To illustrate this, we examine how smell can enable continuing connections to deceased loved ones. Understanding this phenomenon requires an appreciation of, first, how olfaction's limitations can facilitate experiences of the deceased person and, second, how olfaction enables experiences of what we refer to as the ‘olfactory air’ of a person. This way of experiencing someone privileges their status as an environmentally situated human animal.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0279-0750
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 September 2023
Last Modified:	23 Jan 2024 13:56
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/162554

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