REFLECTION #4 - Touch: Recovering our Most Vital Sense, Ch II
(photo from: https://www.healthline.com/health/touch-starved)
TOUCH BY TOUCH: A TACTILE PHILOSOPHY
(A reflection on Richard Kearney's Touch: Recovering Our Most Vital Sense, Chapter II)
The human person’s sense of touch is his/her way of being in intimate contact with the world. Perception by means of ‘touch’ might sound like an argument or belief of an empiricist, but, it is actually a known fact in real life that even the ‘common tao’ knows. We see that people have a longing for human contact: wanting to play with friends, missing the hug of a loved one, or longing to fulfill their carnal desires/needs with their significant other. Moreover, touching as means for human contact has also become a symbolism for agreement. The simple handshake between conflicting parties could mean that they have reached a compromise; the handshake between two opposing teams in a sport event after the game could mean thar they accept the game’s decision and result; and the sexual intercourse done by a married couple could mean not just an expression of their love, but also as a fulfillment of their promise of procreating life and building a family that will become partakers in the Body of Christ. However, the COVID-19 pandemic came. What happened or will happen to the “Philosophies of Touch”?
(photo from: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/comment/asia-face-mask-obsession/)
The COVID-19 pandemic restricted movements and gatherings. The practice of physical or social distancing and the wearing of face masks have been strictly implemented. In just a snap, human contact was deemed dangerous by experts and officials and became an irresponsible activity since it will help in spreading the virus. Plus, it became limited to online means. This global phenomenon, seems to me, force us to revert to the ‘optocentric’ paradigm of Plato. With the COVID restrictions, we only ‘see’ others on our phone screens and computer monitors. We, Catholics, were also encouraged to stay at home during Sundays (because of the lockdowns and the so-called “No Movement Sunday”) and only ‘watch’ the livestreaming of the Holy Mass. Another thing that I have observed that puts the primacy of sight over touch in this time of pandemic is the wearing of Personal Protective Equipment by health care practitioners. Their skin, the largest organ of the body and the organ for having intimate contact with reality, is covered in gears. Although they are wearing safety goggles, their eyes are not that greatly obscured. These examples signifies that the sense of sight is once more enthroned, leaving the sense of touch in its footstool.
What does this current reality tell us? Since tactuality is “what allows for empathy with others” and we have, in a sense, lost tactuality, are we becoming less empathetic? Has our civilization become a civilization that lost touch with itself? Maybe an indication that we, as a civilization in a crisis, slowly have become less empathetic is our attitude or tendency to be extremely ‘segurista.’ The fear of the virus, when it first came, unmasked our inclination to become indifferent. We have seen people closing their borders and panic buying in malls, all in the name of security and safety. The virus must also have symptoms not just the loss of the sense of smell and the sense of taste, but also the sense of touch— the profound and metaphorical touch that leads to empathy. In short, humanity had decreased its empathy when COVID first came; many had not become empathetic towards their sisters and brothers, especially the poor.
Reflecting on these points, I think that the ‘philosophy of touch’ needs a redefinition of its concept of touch in this time of pandemic. Maybe all our senses could, metaphorically speaking, become our way of getting in touch intimately with reality that is COVID-infested. The patients grasping for oxygen or the dying COVID sufferers that we see on our Facebook feed could touch our hearts and evoke empathy. The stories we hear from COVID survivors and their struggles and hardships could also touch our lives and keep us all together and become a stronger species after this crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic has surely shaken our conceptions about the so-called philosophy of touch. This may be the case, but the present crisis invites us as well to re-think our ideals, to re-examine our sight, and to always remain in touch with the world and with others.