Parmenides and onward through the Greeks.

Forsdale: That is, logic.

McLuhan: Logic. Logic is figure without a ground.

Forsdale: Is that the same as, or close to saying—when you say figure without ground, is that close to saying that it’s abstract, that it’s arbitrary?

McLuhan: Yes, it’s very abstract, but you see, when you’re on the telephone, you’re totally abstract. You are an image without a body. That is figure without a ground. When you’re on the air, on radio, TV, you are without a body, with figure, images there but no body.