Paper short abstract

This paper explores the analytic implications of a redistribution of the nature/culture divide by regarding the ways in which we are riven through with 'nature' and we live distributed existences outside of the body.

Paper long abstract

Pragmatist philosopher Arthur Bentley wrote a wonderful piece entitled: The Skin: the Philosopher's Last Line of Defense. He argued that we it is a category error to assume that the 'self' is contained within this body sac. In this paper, I draw on recent work in science studies to explore the implications of this stance for a new understanding of nature/culture. I draw particularly on the emerging field of mereology (the study of parts and wholes) in order to characterize different potential new units of analysis.