Our existence is increasingly lived at a distance. As we move from flesh to image, we are in danger of losing touch with each other and ourselves. How can we combine the physical with the virtual, our embodied experience with our global connectivity? How can we come back to our senses?

Richard Kearney offers a timely call for the cultivation of the basic human need to touch and be touched. He argues that touch is our most primordial sense, foundational to our individual and common selves. Kearney explores the role of touch, from ancient wisdom traditions to modern therapies. He demonstrates that a fundamental aspect of touch is interdependence, its inherently reciprocal nature, which offers a crucial corrective to our fixation with control. Making the case for the complementarity of touch and technology, this book is a passionate plea to recover a tangible sense of community and the joys of life with others.

"Touch is a sophisticated book that comes at a time when, as a result of a biological catastrophe that has spread across the globe, we share our sense of isolation with other humans in the global sense. So this might be the right moment to relearn how intertwined touch is with every aspect of our life, both as individuals and as one species among many." - International Journal of Philosophical Studies

"Kearney presents compelling evidence for the therapeutic power of touch, from the treatment of torture victims to the physiology of childhood trauma and more quotidian effects on stress, immunity, and sleep." - Los Angeles Review of Books

"Kearney’s powerful meditation aims at initiating a new vital wisdom of sensorial groundedness based on tact and savvy, flair and insight." - JMJ Journal

"Touch provides a compelling narrative on an intimate connection between healing and touch." - Cassandra Voices