The intimate other
Theoria et Historia Scientiarum January 2, 2007 DOI: 10.12775/ths.2003.009 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 3 |
| Key points | Argues that the pregnant body has a peculiar immanent "self-lucidity," letting a person feel and anticipate what reflexive consciousness grasps only later and more rationally. Pregnancy is presented as a radical embodiment marked by the strange othered intimacy of another living being growing inside one's own body. |
Abstract
The pregnant body seems to be endowed with a peculiar form of immanent self-lucidity, which enables us to deeply feel and to intensely anticipate what a reflexive consciousness will only grasp later on and in a more rationalized way. Before embarking, however, on the description of the lived experience of pregnancy per se, which reveals a radical embodiment characterized by the strange othered intimacy of having another living being growing inside my own body, I would like first to account briefly for the different degrees of bodily lucidity at work in our everyday experience.