About “doing science” and “contemplating the human condition” address to the international human science research conference at molde, Norway, June 2009.
Bernd Paul Jäger
The Humanistic Psychologist 2010 DOI: 10.1080/08873261003635757 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 5 |
| Key points | Argues that contemplation, rooted in the Roman practice of augury, is a neighborly coming together of disparate parts of the cosmos, and that this practice reappears today as a festive practice of encounter, illustrated by a little girl befriending a farm animal. |
Abstract
“We speak of a human world not because it was made by human beings, or because human bodies and human voices can be seen and heard there. We call the world human because it is a place of dialogue.” —Hannah Arendt The word contemplation retains traces of the timeless insight that we can come to fully understand the other only by becoming that other's neighbor. The word refers us to the Roman practice of augury in which an earthly temple (templum) was made neighbor to a heavenly one, and where the contemplative practice consisted in creating a bond of conversation between the two. Contemplation can thus be understood as a neighborly coming and bringing together of disparate parts of the ancient cosmos. This coming and bringing together reappears in the modern world as a festive practice of encounter that is illustrated in our text by a little girl in the process of befriending a farm animal. We understand encounter as a festive and contemplative practice that brings together and makes neighbors of two hithe...