Скачать или смотреть Keynote III: Sensing the Social; Sundar Sarukkai

The mystery of the senses is as much in the 'objects' of sensation as in their mechanism. A theory of the senses influences a theory of objects. The sense organs do not perceive the objects per se but only qualities. If this is the case, how can we understand the long held suspicion towards collective and social ontology? In this talk, I will explore some ideas on the ontology of the social and relate it to the metaphysics of the senses in order to make the argument that cultural practices are not only based on an implicit ontology of the social but also on the belief that the social is sensorially accessible. The senses not only access the social but perception itself is fundamentally social in character. I will use the example of touch and the idea of social touch to illustrate this possibility of sensing the social.