Relevance of Embodied Practice to Philosophical Understanding
Stance An International Undergraduate Philosophy Journal April 6, 2024 DOI: 10.33043/s.17.1.62-73 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Keywords | Embodied cognition Relevance law Epistemology |
| Key points | Argues that prediscursive embodied practice, such as meditation, can free philosophical understanding from implicit assumptions by distancing us from the basic structure of subjectivity. |
Abstract
In this paper I argue that meditation has a direct bearing upon philosophical discourse by enabling us to distance ourselves from the basic structure of subjectivity that often limits the scope of reason. Recent neurobiological hypotheses are discussed in conjunction with the method of hermeneutic phenomenology to argue that interpretations on the level of our neurobiology underly and construct our experience of ourselves as subjects and the sense of explicit rational understanding that arises from it. This implies that prediscursive embodied practice can play a crucial role in freeing our philosophical understanding from implicit assumptions.