This paper provides an introduction to the phenomena of phantom sensations. We recall the events that first led us to survey transsexual men about phantom penises and review some of our recent work in related areas as a primer to contextualizing the neuroscience underpinning Chris Straayer’s exploration of phantom penises. As we discuss, phantom phenomena have long been situated in the borderlands between psychiatry and neurology. With a consideration for subjective experience, which we argue is vital to scientific research, Straayer expands these spaces to incorporate trans theory, psychoanalysis, and cognitive psychology, thus advancing our understandings of what it is to be human.