The Tactual Ground, Immersion and "the space between"

Mac Cumhaill, Clare

doi:10.1111/sjp.12212

The Tactual Ground, Immersion and "the space between"

Mac Cumhaill, Clare

Authors

Dr Clare Mac Cumhaill clare.maccumhaill@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

I ask whether figure-ground structure can be realized in touch, and, if so, how. Drawing on the taxonomy of touch sketched in Katz's 1925 The World of Touch, I argue that the form of touch that is relevant to such consideration is a species of immersed touch. I consider whether we can feel the space we are immersed in and, more specifically, the empty space against which the surfaces of objects, as I shall urge, “stand out.” Harnessing M. G. F. Martin's account of bodily awareness and touch, I defend a positive thesis, pace Graham Nerlich on whose The Shape of Space (1994) I otherwise rely, both to defend the supposition that empty space can in principle be felt and to argue that touching empty space is not a mere species of absence perception. Along the way, I defuse a causal worry that might be thought to arise in the case of touching empty space.

Citation

Mac Cumhaill, C. (2017). The Tactual Ground, Immersion and "the space between". The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 55(1), 5-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12212

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Mar 22, 2017
Online Publication Date	Apr 18, 2017
Publication Date	Mar 1, 2017
Deposit Date	Mar 22, 2017
Publicly Available Date	Apr 18, 2019
Journal	The Southern Journal of Philosophy
Print ISSN	0038-4283
Electronic ISSN	2041-6962
Publisher	Wiley
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	55
Issue	1
Pages	5-31
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12212

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Copyright Statement
This is the accepted version of the following article: Mac Cumhaill, C. (2017), The Tactual Ground, Immersion, and the “Space Between”. The Southern Journal of Philosophy, 55(1): 5-31, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/sjp.12212. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.