The concept of “flesh” in philosophical terms derives from the writings of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This was the word he used to name the concrete realm of sentient bodies and life processes that has been eclipsed by the abstractions of science, technology, and modern culture. Topology, to conventional understanding, is the branch of mathematics that concerns itself with the properties of geometric figures that stay the same when the figures are stretched or deformed.

Topologies of the Flesh is an original blend of continental thought and mathematical imagination that opens up a new area of philosophical inquiry: topological phenomenology. Through its unique application of qualitative mathematics, this work extends the approaches of Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger so as to offer a detailed exploration of previously uncharted dimensions of human experience and the natural world.

“Topologies of the Flesh is a remarkable book, not least from the fact that its passion could be sustained so steadily to the very end. . . . This is a challenging book that makes strong demands on the reader, and [the reader’s efforts] are rewarded to an exciting degree.” –Professor Arnold Berleant, author of The Aesthetic Field

“Rosen brings together widely differing perspectives in an accomplished and creative way. His text…is impeccably written and, to the attentive reader, always lucid. I highly recommend Topologies of the Flesh. It is a wide-ranging, richly informed, and impressively original work.”    –-Professor Michael Washburn, writing in the Journal of Mind and Behavior, Summer 2006

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