Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and Opportunities

The so-called “lower senses” of taste and smell have received some attention in philosophical aesthetics over the past two decades, but touch remains relatively neglected.  This paper addresses some possible reasons for its neglect and indicates promising areas of exploration.  Section 1 briefly rev...

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Main Author: Larry Shiner
Format: Article
Language:ces
Published: University of Presov, Faculty of Arts 2025-07-01
Series:ESPES
Subjects:
Online Access:https://espes.ff.unipo.sk/index.php/ESPES/article/view/345
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author Larry Shiner
author_facet Larry Shiner
author_sort Larry Shiner
collection DOAJ
description The so-called “lower senses” of taste and smell have received some attention in philosophical aesthetics over the past two decades, but touch remains relatively neglected.  This paper addresses some possible reasons for its neglect and indicates promising areas of exploration.  Section 1 briefly reviews challenges to developing an aesthetics of touch, some ontological, some cultural, some historical.  Section 2 indicates some aspect of the nature of touch relevant to aesthetics, Section3 addresses the question of whether touch qualifies as a vehicle for aesthetic experience and suggests a notions of the aesthetic appropriate to touch.  Section 4 turns to selected opportunities for reflecting on the aesthetics of touch in three broad areas:  1) art, craft and design 2) everyday and nature aesthetics 3) interpersonal touch.
format Article
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publisher University of Presov, Faculty of Arts
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spelling doaj-art-991537d5b68c456ca585250d35ada1c82025-08-20T03:56:23ZcesUniversity of Presov, Faculty of ArtsESPES1339-11192025-07-0114110.5281/zenodo.15783882286Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and OpportunitiesLarry Shiner0University of Illinois SpringfieldThe so-called “lower senses” of taste and smell have received some attention in philosophical aesthetics over the past two decades, but touch remains relatively neglected.  This paper addresses some possible reasons for its neglect and indicates promising areas of exploration.  Section 1 briefly reviews challenges to developing an aesthetics of touch, some ontological, some cultural, some historical.  Section 2 indicates some aspect of the nature of touch relevant to aesthetics, Section3 addresses the question of whether touch qualifies as a vehicle for aesthetic experience and suggests a notions of the aesthetic appropriate to touch.  Section 4 turns to selected opportunities for reflecting on the aesthetics of touch in three broad areas:  1) art, craft and design 2) everyday and nature aesthetics 3) interpersonal touch.https://espes.ff.unipo.sk/index.php/ESPES/article/view/345touchaestheticsartcraftdesigneveryday aestheticsnature aestheticsinterpersonal touch
spellingShingle Larry Shiner
Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and Opportunities
ESPES
touch
aesthetics
art
craft
design
everyday aesthetics
nature aesthetics
interpersonal touch
title Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and Opportunities
title_full Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and Opportunities
title_fullStr Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and Opportunities
title_full_unstemmed Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and Opportunities
title_short Towards an Aesthetics of Touch: Challenges and Opportunities
title_sort towards an aesthetics of touch challenges and opportunities
topic touch
aesthetics
art
craft
design
everyday aesthetics
nature aesthetics
interpersonal touch
url https://espes.ff.unipo.sk/index.php/ESPES/article/view/345
work_keys_str_mv AT larryshiner towardsanaestheticsoftouchchallengesandopportunities