Beyond the Abstract: Richard Kearney’s Carnal Hermeneutics and the Sensory Foundations of Meaning

Richard Kearney’s Carnal Hermeneutics presents a compelling argument for the centrality of embodiment in human understanding and interpretation. In contrast to abstract, disembodied approaches to meaning, Kearney roots hermeneutics firmly in the physical, sensory, and bodily dimensions of human existence. This perspective insists that the body is not merely a vessel or passive observer but an active, essential participant in how we engage with and make sense of the world.

Kearney begins with the assertion that the body is the first site of interpretation. Through our senses—touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing—we mediate our experience of reality. These sensory encounters form the foundation of understanding, with the body actively constructing meaning rather than passively receiving external stimuli. Kearney critiques traditional hermeneutical frameworks that have often privileged cognitive or linguistic processes over the physical. He seeks to rehabilitate what he calls the “carnal dimension,” reminding us that bodily existence profoundly shapes how we understand the world. Embodied practices such as rituals, gestures, and tactile encounters are as integral to meaning as words or abstract thought.

Drawing on phenomenology, especially the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Kearney develops the idea of the flesh as a medium of relation. The body, for him, is not an isolated entity but a dynamic medium that connects us to others and the world. Flesh is inherently intersubjective; it precedes language and surpasses it, creating relational spaces where meaning is shared and experienced. This intersubjectivity finds expression in what Kearney describes as the reciprocity of sensing and being sensed. When we touch, we are simultaneously touched. When we see, we are seen. This mutuality underscores the relational and participatory nature of interpretation, where understanding is not confined to the solitary mind but is enacted through bodily engagement.

Kearney also highlights the vulnerability inherent in embodiment. Our bodies are exposed to pain, pleasure, and the touch of others, which ties interpretation to an ethical dimension. Embodiment reveals that understanding is not merely intellectual but deeply moral, grounded in the shared, fragile existence of flesh. This shared vulnerability calls for attentiveness to others, making interpretation an ethical act as much as a cognitive one.

In rejecting Cartesian dualism, Kearney challenges the traditional separation of mind and body. He insists that the two are integrated, co-constitutive of thought and meaning. The body is not secondary to the mind but works alongside it, shaping understanding through physical and sensory engagement. This holistic view resists the hierarchy that has often elevated abstract reasoning above lived, embodied experience.

The implications of Carnal Hermeneutics are profound, extending into fields such as theology, art, and ethics. In theology, Kearney’s insights resonate deeply with the incarnational aspects of religious experience, where the divine is encountered through flesh and materiality. Sacraments, for instance, are profoundly embodied acts where grace is mediated through touch, taste, and presence. Similarly, in art, tactile engagement and sensory responses enrich and complicate the interpretive process, moving beyond mere visual or intellectual appreciation to a fuller, embodied encounter. Ethical reflection, too, benefits from Kearney’s emphasis on vulnerability and intersubjectivity, encouraging us to recognize the moral stakes inherent in our shared fleshly existence.

Ultimately, Kearney’s Carnal Hermeneutics insists that meaning is inseparable from our sensory, physical, and relational being. This vision challenges purely abstract or intellectual accounts of understanding, offering instead a more holistic, incarnate perspective. Interpretation, Kearney reminds us, is always embodied—rooted in the touch of the flesh, the reciprocity of relationships, and the vulnerability that makes us profoundly human.