100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Enjoy overnight NZ-wide delivery from our NZ-owned independent bookstore! 🎉

Touch

Recovering Our Most Vital Sense
Series: No Limits
4.23 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 39 ratings, 4 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In an increasingly virtual world, Touch by Richard Kearney explores the vital human need for physical contact. The book examines touch as our most primitive sense, essential to self and community, drawing from ancient traditions and modern therapies. It emphasises the reciprocal nature of touch as a remedy to our obsession with control and argues for blending physical connection with technological advances to revitalise our shared sense of belonging.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3799
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 3-4 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book is ideal for readers interested in philosophy, psychology, and contemporary social issues, especially those seeking to understand the importance of physical and emotional connection in an increasingly digital world.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Richard Kearney offers a timely call for the cultivation of the basic human need to touch and be touched. 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.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

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?

Touch by 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.

Series: No Limits

View all
  • Rapture
    What is it like to experience rapture? For philosopher Christopher Hamilton, it is a loss of self that is also a return to self—an overflowing and emptying out of the self that also nourishes and fills the self. In this inviting book, he reflects on the nature of rapture and its crucial yet unacknowledged place in our lives. Hamilton explores...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Self-Improvement
    We are obsessed with self-improvement; it's a billion-dollar industry. But apps, workshops, speakers, retreats, and life hacks have not made us happier. Obsessed with the endless task of perfecting ourselves, we have become restless, anxious, and desperate. We are improving ourselves to death. The culture of self-improvement stems from philosophical classics, perfectionist religions, and a ruthless strain of capitalism—but today,...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Storythinking
    Every time we think ahead, we are crafting a story. Every daily plan—and every political vision, social movement, scientific hypothesis, business proposal, and technological breakthrough—starts with "what if?" Linking causes to effects, considering hypotheticals and counterfactuals, asking how other people will react: these are the essence of narrative. So why do we keep overlooking story's importance to intelligence in favour...
    Paperback
    $9100
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Taste
    Taste is a lyric meditation on one of our five senses, which we often take for granted. Structured as a series of "small bites," the book considers the ways that we ingest the world, how we come to know ourselves and others through the daily act of tasting. Through flavorful explorations of the sweet, the sour, the salty, the bitter,...
    Paperback
    $5200
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Aimlessness
    Our culture values striving, purpose, achievement, and accumulation. This book asks us to get sidetracked along the way. It praises aimlessness as a source of creativity and an alternative to the demand for linear, efficient, instrumentalist thinking and productivity. Aimlessness collects ideas and stories from around the world that value indirection, wandering, getting lost, waiting, meandering, lingering, sitting, laying about,...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Connection
    "Thrilling and fun. From Aristotle and Dante to Bono and adrienne maree brown, Dan Turello takes us to a wonderland where technology meets ideas." - Azar Nafisi, New York Times best-selling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books Technology gets a bad rap. It is accused of being a dehumanising force, a chief culprit in everything from...
    Paperback
    $4799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Contemplation
    What is contemplation? How is it distinct from meditation? Is contemplation essentially religious or mystical? What should one contemplate, and how? Are there different styles of contemplation, and why should one practice them? Ought we try to lead more contemplative lives? This book offers a philosophical introduction to the theory and practice of contemplation. Kevin Hart examines a variety of...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Touch
    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? Touch by Richard Kearney offers a timely call for...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Connection
    "Thrilling and fun. From Aristotle and Dante to Bono and adrienne maree brown, Dan Turello takes us to a wonderland where technology meets ideas." - Azar Nafisi, New York Times best-selling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books Technology gets a bad rap. It is accused of being a dehumanising force, a chief culprit in everything from...
    Hardback
    $31300
    Available
    Ships in 2-3 weeks
  • Frivolity
    Pre-order
    Frivolity
    Why must everything be so important—so dour and solemn, so grim and austere? How about a feather boa, some frilly lace, and a bright splash of pink? In Frivolity, Jehanne Dubrow stands up for the seemingly shallow and trifling, calling for a reconsideration of what we find worthy and what we dismiss. This book is a provocation. It offers a...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 15 Sep 2026
  • Listening
    Pre-order
    Listening
    When everyone can make themselves heard, who cares to listen? How can we learn to pay attention without simply waiting for our turn to speak? What does it truly mean to be a good listener? Miriam Rasch offers a philosophical and personal exploration of the ethics of listening, understanding it not as a passive act but as a relationship between...
    Paperback
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 13 Oct 2026

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise Touch as a timely, insightful, and sophisticated meditation on human connection. Maria Pia Lara commends it for addressing isolation in a global context, while Kieran Setiya highlights its compelling evidence of touch’s therapeutic power. The book is described as profoundly illuminating by the Journal for Continental Philosophy of Religion and as a call to sensorial groundedness by Anne Davenport.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780231199537

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 23 February 2021

Country: United States

Imprint: Columbia University Press

Illustration: 20 b&w illustrations

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 216

About the Author

Richard Kearney holds the Charles Seelig Chair of Philosophy at Boston College. He is director of the Guestbook Project for creative peace pedagogy and he has written many books on the philosophy of imagination and embodiment, translated into over a dozen languages. His previous Columbia University Press books include Anatheism: Returning to God After God (2009) and Reimagining the Sacred (2016).

More from Uncategorised

View all
  • Gift Wrap
    Transform any book into the perfect gift with Book Hero's premium gift wrap! Whether you're celebrating a special occasion or simply surprising a loved one, our gift wrap adds an extra layer of excitement to your thoughtful gesture. Features: Elegant Design: Our gift wrap features a timeless design that complements any book, making it ideal for birthdays, holidays, or any...
    From Free
    (3)
  • Shadows of Navarre (Fourth Wing) Bookmark
    Rebecca Yarros reignited the romantasy genre with the release of Fourth Wing (2023), the first book in her Empyrean series. Centered around 20-year-old dragon-rider recruit Violet Sorrengail, the series defies traditional fantasy tropes by offering readers a female hero who is both formidable and deeply human.
    Miscellaneous print
    $795
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Shadows of Navarre (Fourth Wing) Midi Lined Hardcover Journal
    Rebecca Yarros reignited the romantasy genre with the release of Fourth Wing (2023), the first book in her Empyrean series. Centered around 20-year-old dragon-rider recruit Violet Sorrengail, the series defies traditional fantasy tropes by offering readers a female hero who is both formidable and deeply human.
    Hardback
    $3295
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • What We Did to Survive
    A vacation in paradise turns deadly when four teens' sailing charter hits stormy seas in this propulsive new thriller from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Megan Lally! What We Did to Survive follows Hannah, who can't wait to spend spring break with her best friend, Emmy, and her family. A week at a resort in Mexico is...
    Paperback
    $1999
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Kara-ori (Japanese Kimono) Bookmark
    Showcasing silk dyed with beni (the pigment extracted from safflower petals) and lacquered in gold, this kimono design dates to the Edo period (1615–1868), when it was used as a costume for the theatrical style known as Noh. Kara-ori refers specifically to the exquisitely embroidered women's kimono that traditional Noh theatre was known for.
    Miscellaneous print
    $795
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Dazzas Cooked
    This book is a celebration of Darren’s biggest hits, the recipes that put Ashby Pies on the map. Inside Dazza’s Cooked you will find chapters including: – Pies: beef cheek and cheese, roast lamb and rosemary, smoked fish pie.– Corner Bakery: bacon, beer and cheese scones, cinnamon buns, apple turnovers.– Snacks: sticky chicken nibbles, fish crudo, lamb ribs.– Meat: pork...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Magic of Wicked (Wicked Collection) Bookmark
    Miscellaneous print
    $750
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Kim A Journey Between Worlds
    Born Māori (Ngātikahungunu), raised Pakeha, Kim Rangiaonui Logan's father was commander in D Company, 8th Māori Battalion, but returned from war a damaged man, unable to cope with his children. But this is no misery memoir. Kim climbed away, literally - Everest, Aorangi Mt Cook, anywhere, to love and contentment, and in the process reconnected with his Whakapapa. Now living...
    Paperback
    $5500
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    20% off
    Australia Wall Map Laminated Paper Handy Map 745 x 620
    Wall map of Australia featuring Hema's customary mapping detail including National Parks, major road networks, and distances. Single-sided map in four sizes and your choice of finish from unlaminated, laminated (encapsulation) and laminated paper. Available in three finishes and four sizes as follows:  Finish Laminated paper - mass-produced by a third-party printer Laminated encapsulated - high quality produced by Hema Maps Photo...
    Paperback
    $3200
    Usually:
    $3995
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • On Sale
    12% off
    Klimt, The Kiss (Special Editions) Bookmark
    The Kiss (1907-1908), the Gustav Klimt painting reproduced here, represents the pinnacle of his "golden phase." Oil and gold leaf combine to create shapes and colours reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau styles. The lustrous palette and intricate patterns make the work a great masterpiece of the period.
    Miscellaneous print
    $700
    Usually:
    $795
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • The Meeting Place
    Paperback
    $4400
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow
  • Clearance
    Combat Medicine Operations Manual
    Since the discovery and widespread use of penicillin in the Second World War, which was a major turning point in 20th century combat medicine, there have been enormous changes in surgical and nursing techniques enabling frontline medical teams to save soldiers’ lives and alleviate suffering on the battlefield. The Korean War saw the first use of helicopters to airlift wounded...
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $4999
    In Stock
    Ships tomorrow

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.