Acute Fatigue and Embodied Space: towards a Phenomenology of Existential Surface
Daniel Reid Smyth
Research in Phenomenology August 25, 2026 DOI: 10.1163/15691640-12341607 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that embodied space tacitly involves conditions of stability and tolerability, which the author names "existential surface," and that acute fatigue discloses a self-grounding limit of the felt body, analyzed as a "recessive boundary" that reorganizes initiative around "being-toward-rest." |
Abstract
Abstract Hermann Schmitz offers one of the most extensive descriptions available of embodied space, characterizing it as pre-sensorial, indivisible, and surfaceless yet capable of disclosing absolute locations. Schmitz nevertheless anchors the felt body’s absolute location in temporal irruption rather than in the ability for lived space to ground itself in rest. This article argues that embodied space tacitly involves trans-perceptual conditions of stability and tolerability that Schmitz’s account opens up but does not fully develop. I introduce the concept of existential surface to name this dimension, with the ground underfoot as its paradigmatic case. Acute fatigue serves as the principal test case: it discloses both the felt body’s dependence on a body-bearing world and an autochthonous self-grounding limit of the felt body. I analyze the latter in terms of a recessive boundary that resists further movement and reorganizes practical initiative around what I call being-toward-rest .
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