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This article presents an object designer's view of the parallels and intersections of body perception in Early Modern times and nowadays, aimed to expand the role of the human body in contemporary design practice. It seeks to trace the origins of our today's relation to the body and the relation of the body to its material surroundings, focusing on the meaning of the body as a medium of sensual experience in the contemporary design discourse. Just like anatomy cannot fully describe the phenomenon of the human body, the role of the body in design cannot be fully expressed by means of ergonomics and anthropometry alone. The article questions why we tend to look at the body from the outer rather than inner perspective. When did the body become an object and our relation to the body and our experience of the body become detached from selfhood? When was the sense of wholeness lost? In 1543, Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564) published seven books on human anatomy titled De humani corporis fabrica libri septem, known as Fab-rica. Despite some biologically erroneous beliefs, a visual narrative through allegorical images, and an obvious confusion of an anatomical and erotic gaze in depicting the female body, this book was a breakthrough in the history of anatomy. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the theme of the body and its parts became dominant in all fields from medical, religious, and literary texts to art. The previous focus on the entire body gave way to the individualised importance of separate parts of the body. Due to the rapid progress of anatomical knowledge, the dissection of the human body becomes a key motif of acquiring knowledge. The inside of the body represents the hidden truth and is also a fundamental place to connect with God. With the rise of the science of anatomy, unfamiliar knowledge turns into a spectacle, and the body becomes objectified. The dramatic experiences of Shakespeare's protagonists illustrate this conflict of excepting the revealed body and show that the pre-Cartesian perception of a human individual does not separate selfhood and its materiality, and body parts are associated with individual psychology. These examples can be related to the neurobiological term of intero-ception, which refers to the sense of the internal state of the body. In the context of design and well-being, pre-Cartesian self-perception and especially interoception could be used as a certain mindset to create and use objects in a more fulfilling, mindful way. The advent of anatomical wax models that were anonymous and normative made it clear that the constitution of all humans is more or less the same. This idea allowed the interior of the body to be mechanised and to move gradually from the self within the body to the perception of the Cartesian or, in other words, purely mechanical relationship between oneself and the standardised material body. The English philosopher, poet, scientist, and writer Margaret Lucas Cavendish (1623-1673), conversely, emphasized vitality, sensory cognition, and equal integrity of the physical body in human existence. She sought to question the mechanistic view by presenting an empirical view of the body and its relation to the environment. Cavendish belongs to organic materialism, according to which knowledge and senses are inseparable. She stated that the matter can think and, therefore, knowledge is embodied. This cognitive tactility and sensory pluralism of knowledge was opposite to Descartes' perception that the body is something other than human nature and that the dualism of mind and body gives the mind a higher position against the misleading material world. Cavendish's play The Convent of Pleasure (1668) containing a detailed description of material surroundings where the body can settle and enjoy the pleasures can be an inspiration for a more sensitive and refined designer's look. It sensually awakens our imagination and identifies a possible human sensitivity to the material environment. All of Cavendish's descriptions are based on sensations. Her play was a reaction to the belief that women are more bodily by nature, while the body was rejected as an obstacle to pure thought or an unreliable mediator between the mind and the material world. Both the belief of Shakespeare's protagonists that the truth lies within the body and Cavendish's cognitive sensuality are related to tacit knowledge, a term introduced by Michael Polanyi (1891-1976), which can be related to Gestalt psychology and phenomenology. Conscious inclusion of this pre-logical knowledge could be considered a necessary methodology in the process of meaningful, powerful design. According to Polanyi, the body is the main instrument of all external knowledge, both intellectual and practical. Nevertheless, the body is the only thing we usually do not experience as an object. This article examines how we neglect the body in design, both in the creation and use of objects. This historical context has inspired quite a few designers, usually from the aesthetic or technological viewpoint. There are several contemporary designers who are sensually interested in the human body or are looking for a special relation to the body (Olivier van Herpt, Hansol Kim, Giulia Sol-dati, and Aldo Bakker are among them). Even though bodily objects do exist, they are often designed for visual stimulation and association or are accidental projects that are not embedded in design practice. The historical perspective allows us to look at the human body from a new angle and to re-evaluate what is taken for granted. It helps to erase what is known and what is an accepted fact, to analyze the phenomena from a distance, and to use the learn to unlearn method in a creative way. This kind of mental experiment creatively opens a possibility of speculative interpretation or accepting ideas directly. Decontextualised historical ideas take on new meanings in the present. On the other hand, history can be viewed timelessly due to the unceasing relevance of ideas or works. Early modern examples draw attention to the established concept of the body and question the synthetically, rationally created and conceptual design when it has no embedded sensual experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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