The Senses of Touch: Haptics, Affects and Technologies (Senses and Sensibilities): Haptics, Affects and Technologies (Senses and Sensibilities)

Touch is the first sense to develop in the womb, yet often it is overlooked. The Senses of Touch examines the role of touching and feeling as part of the fabric of everyday, embodied experience. How can we think about touch? Problems of touch and tactility run as a continuous thread in philosophy, psychology, medical writing and representations in art, from Ancient Greece to the present day. Picking through some of these threads, the book ‘feels’ its way towards writing and thinking about touch as both sensory and affective experience. Taking a broadly phenomenological framework that traces tactility from Aristotle through the Enlightenment to the present day, the book examines the role of touch across a range of experiences including aesthetics, digital design, visual impairment and touch therapies. The Senses of Touch thereby demonstrates the varieties of sensory experience, and explores the diverse range of our ‘senses’ of touch. Problems Of Touch And Tactility Run As A Continuous Thread In Philosophy, Psychology, Medical Writing And Representations In Art, From Ancient Greece To The Present Day. Not Merely Immediate Skin Sensation, Touching And Feeling Are Inextricably Woven Into Embodied Experiences That Are Emotional And Expressive, Personal And Interpersonal, And Mediated Through Technologies. Examining The Role Of Touch In Art, Memory, Digital Design, Developmental Psychology, Experiences Of Visual Impairment, And Tactile Therapies, The Senses Of Touch Demonstrates The Varieties Of Sensory Experience, And Explores The Diverse Range Of Our Senses Of Touch. The Primacy Of Touch -- Learning How To See, Describing How To Feel : A 'felt' Phenomenology -- The Forgetting Of Touch : Geometry With Eyes And Hands -- 'how The World Touches Us' : Haptic Aesthetics -- Tangible Play, Prosthetic Performance -- Feel The Presence : The Technologies Of Touch -- Seeing With The Hands, Touching With The Eyes -- Affecting Touch : Flesh And Feeling-with. Mark Paterson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 173-197) And Index. Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Glossary......Page 10 1 The Primacy of Touch......Page 12 2 Learning How to See, Describing How to Feel: a ‘Felt’ Phenomenology......Page 26 3 Seeing with the Hands, Touching with the Eyes......Page 48 4 The Forgetting of Touch: Geometry with Eyes and Hands......Page 70 5 ‘How the World Touches Us’: Haptic Aesthetics......Page 90 6 Tangible Play, Prosthetic Performance......Page 114 7 ‘Feel the Presence’: the Technologies of Touch......Page 138 8 Affecting Touch: Flesh and Feeling-With......Page 158 Notes......Page 184 References......Page 188 Index......Page 210 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Glossary 10 1 The Primacy of Touch 12 2 Learning How to See, Describing How to Feel: a ‘Felt’ Phenomenology 26 3 Seeing with the Hands, Touching with the Eyes 48 4 The Forgetting of Touch: Geometry with Eyes and Hands 70 5 ‘How the World Touches Us’: Haptic Aesthetics 90 6 Tangible Play, Prosthetic Performance 114 7 ‘Feel the Presence’: the Technologies of Touch 138 8 Affecting Touch: Flesh and Feeling-With 158 Notes 184 References 188 Index 210 9781845204785 Touch is the first sense to develop in the womb, yet often it is overlooked. This work examines the role of touching and feeling as part of the fabric of everyday, embodied experience. It examines the role of touch across a range of experiences including aesthetics, digital design, visual impairment and touch therapies