How Do You Touch an Impossible Thing?
David A Nicholls
PMID 36189047WHAT IT FOUND
The paper argues that physiotherapy's view of touch is too limited by human exceptionalism and proposes a philosophical framework where all entities, not just humans, engage in therapeutic contact.
It offers no clinical evidence or guidance for patient care.
What this paper is
This is a philosophical commentary exploring how the concept of touch might be reframed using Gilles Deleuze's machine ontology. It contains no clinical methods, patient data, or outcomes, so there is nothing here to change your practice on.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the author's philosophical argument about expanding the definition of touch as a recommendation to change clinical assessment or treatment protocols. The paper explicitly states that immediate application to daily practice is some way off and provides no tested interventions.