Introduction

Jean-Luc Nancy has long considered touch to be central for an understanding of the relation between the self and the world, a crucial question of his philosophy he will also explore in his talk entitled ‘Touche –touche’. His rethinking of community and the political from phenomenological and deconstructive perspectives directs our attention to the body and its ‘naked existence’ beyond metaphysics. The impact of this philosophical project on contemporary modes of being together is also demonstrated in his most recent publication on the Corona crisis, Un trop human virus (2020).

This lecture series takes queer theory’s conversation about intimacy as a starting point to discuss some of its cultural possibilities, mediated forms, and philosophical trajectories in the context of Corona.