Mind, Hand, Object

Spinoza's concept of the Mind-Object relation is eccentric with respect to the standard Epistemological schools.  But it can be more versatile, and, hence, more instructive, than most of them.  The versatility is exemplified in the case in which an Object is being grasped by the hand, which is thus an Idea in the Mind.  According to Empiricism, the Knowledge of the Object can be no more than a datum of Touch, with no capacity to accommodate the encompassing of the Object by the hand.  For Rationalism, the shortcoming is the opposite--Knowledge of a Unity that is not a mere Thought of some kind.  Furthermore, the hand can not only grasp an Object, but can manipulate it, and even wield it, e. g. as a tool.  Thus, on Spinoza's account, the Knowledge of the Object is not only merely Theoretical, but potentially Technical, as well.  Finally, his concept has the potentially far-reaching consequence of explaining the Evolutionist superiority of the Human Mind--as corresponding to the superiority of the hand.  That faculty can be precisely called Comprehension, a faculty that seems to have no peers in rival theories, even when that term is only loosely used, e. g. for Whitehead, 'prehension' is only equivalent to 'feel'.