These various views all take a stand on the extent to which touch brings direct awareness of external features and objects, and to what extent such awareness is mediated by awareness of the body. In addition, they are usually forced to take a stand on the spatial contents of perceptual touch. On views according to which all external tactual awareness is ultimately a form of bodily awareness, it is simply not possible to have extended touch experiences. On other views that hold a less restrictive dependence between perceptual touch and bodily awareness, there is an additional burden to explain how distal touch is possible. These choices have analogues in the empirical literature. Some, for instance, want to make a clear distinction between “interoception” and “exteroception”  (Craig 2002). According to this view, many aspects of touch, though primarily its thermal properties and most forms of pure bodily sensation (itch, tingles, twinges, etc.) are primarily directed not at the external world, but at the present state of our bodies. This is part of how our bodies maintain homeostasis. This results in the possibility of very different functional roles for certain aspects of bodily awareness, especially as they function in the generation of perceptual touch.