#Phenomenology of perception

[quotessentially]

From Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception

[philosophybitmaps]

[corvidae-quills]

Probably weird off topic post but I just had a sort of brainwave that I feel compelled to inflict upon my beloved mutuals, but I was thinking about Time (which I do a lot because I think it's really interesting and I think we take too much for granted about it and I think the next Really Big scientific breakthroughs (like heliocentrism level) are going to come in the field of Time). Anyway.

We know now that the closer you go to the speed of light the slower time moves for you (even though your perception isn't changed, it's still one second per second for you, it's just your one second per seconds are happening slower than everyone else's) versus people who are "standing still" except. Nobody's standing still. The earth is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven THOUSAND miles per hour. The sun is also orbiting around the center of the galaxy at probably a very fast speed, I don't have a number for it, and the galaxy is orbiting the center of gravity of the local group, which is also in motion. We have all kinds of brain-breaking velocities stacked on top of each other. So I guess my thought is. If you were ACTUALLY standing still. Would time stop?

[hautaaja]

heard y'all love Dennis Cooper & poetry.... well, do i have just the blog post for you.......

[physics-dirtbag]

“I am a psychological and historical structure. Along with existence, I received a way of existing, or a style. All of my actions and thoughts are related to this structure, and even a philosopher's thought is merely a way of making explicit his hold upon the world, which is all he is. And yet, I am free, not in spite of or beneath these motivations, but rather by their means. For that meaningful life, that particular signification of nature and history that I am, does not restrict my access to the world; it is rather my means of communication with it.”

- Maurice Merleau-Ponty; The Phenomenology of Perception

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of the Skin

The philosophy of the skin examines the role of the skin as a boundary, both physically and metaphorically, and its significance in human experience, identity, and interpersonal relationships. Skin, as the body’s largest organ, plays a fundamental role in how we perceive the world through touch, how we differentiate between self and other, and how we present ourselves socially. In philosophical discourse, the skin represents the interface between the individual and the external world, highlighting themes of vulnerability, intimacy, identity, and embodiment.

Key Themes in the Philosophy of the Skin:

Skin as a Boundary:

The skin acts as a physical boundary between the internal and external worlds, defining the limits of the body. It marks the division between self and other, playing a significant role in questions of identity and individuality.

Philosophers of embodiment like Maurice Merleau-Ponty explore how the skin is more than just a barrier; it is also a point of contact through which we experience the world. The skin mediates our sensory experiences, particularly through touch, grounding us in the physical environment and facilitating connection with others.

Touch and Sensory Perception:

Skin is the primary organ for touch, one of the most intimate senses. Philosophically, touch is often seen as a more immediate and embodied form of perception than sight or hearing, engaging us directly with objects and people.

Haptic perception—the way we understand the world through touch—raises philosophical questions about how we experience physical objects and other human beings. For instance, while vision can create a distance between the observer and the observed, touch collapses that distance, offering a more direct form of interaction.

The Skin and Vulnerability:

The skin's role in protecting the body highlights its vulnerability. The skin can be wounded, scarred, or marked, making it a symbol of human fragility. Philosophers like Emmanuel Levinas have explored the ethical significance of this vulnerability, particularly in relation to our interactions with others.

Levinas argued that vulnerability, especially as it is revealed through the skin, creates an ethical demand for care and responsibility toward others. The skin’s exposure symbolizes the openness of human beings to harm but also to intimacy and ethical connection.

The Skin and Identity:

Skin is central to how individuals are identified and categorized socially. Skin color has been a focal point of philosophical discussions about race, racism, and identity. Frantz Fanon, in works like Black Skin, White Masks, explored how skin color shapes experiences of alienation, power, and oppression in colonial and postcolonial contexts.

Skin also functions as a canvas for self-expression, through tattoos, piercings, scars, and other modifications, making it an important site for exploring questions of personal identity and social belonging.

The Skin and Embodiment:

The skin is central to philosophical discussions on embodiment, which considers the body as lived experience rather than as an object. Phenomenologists such as Merleau-Ponty argue that our sense of self is inseparable from our embodied experience, of which skin is a crucial element.

Our skin is constantly in contact with the environment, making it essential for experiencing the world in a bodily way. This lived experience of the body—feeling warmth, cold, pleasure, pain—demonstrates how we are constantly engaged with the world through our skin, which both protects us and connects us to the environment.

Skin and Aesthetics:

The skin has long been associated with beauty and aesthetics. In many cultures, the smoothness, color, and texture of skin are central to standards of beauty, prompting reflection on how aesthetic judgments are influenced by bodily appearances.

The artificial modification of skin—such as cosmetics, plastic surgery, and body art—raises philosophical questions about the authenticity of appearance and the extent to which the skin serves as a medium for aesthetic expression.

Skin as a Metaphor:

In addition to its physical properties, skin serves as a powerful metaphor in philosophy and literature. To "be thick-skinned" or "thin-skinned" refers to one's emotional resilience or sensitivity, linking the physical properties of skin to psychological traits.

The metaphor of "wearing a mask" or "shedding skin" is often used to describe changes in identity or emotional states, suggesting that the skin is not just a boundary but a dynamic interface that can reflect and shape one’s psychological and social self.

Skin and Intimacy:

The skin is crucial for human intimacy. The act of touching—whether a handshake, an embrace, or a caress—is a deeply symbolic gesture that expresses trust, affection, or solidarity. Touch is one of the most immediate ways of creating a connection with others.

The philosophy of touch emphasizes how the skin facilitates communication without words, enabling a form of non-verbal interaction that is powerful in both personal relationships and ethical encounters.

Ethics of Care and Skin:

Skin care, both in a literal and metaphorical sense, is related to the ethics of care. Taking care of one’s skin, or the skin of others, embodies broader principles of responsibility, nurturing, and maintaining well-being. In health care, for example, caring for someone’s skin can symbolize larger commitments to their dignity and comfort.

The Skin and Technology:

The development of technologies that interact with the skin—such as wearable devices, prosthetics, or virtual reality haptics—raises philosophical questions about the boundary between the organic and the artificial. How do these technologies reshape our understanding of skin as a human organ?

As the skin becomes more integrated with technology, its role as an interface between the self and the world becomes more complex, inviting discussions about cyborg philosophy and the future of human embodiment.

The philosophy of the skin touches on fundamental questions about identity, vulnerability, sensory perception, and human relationships. Skin, as a sensory organ and boundary, plays a pivotal role in how we experience and interpret the world. Through its capacity to feel, protect, and express, the skin is a rich site for philosophical inquiry, connecting the physical body to broader existential, ethical, and social concerns.

[thirdtimed]

unfortunately if i ever developed the lifeseries orv au in my head in earnest i would in no capacity whatsoever manage to be normal about it at all and like. i mean it

[autoreflexions]

And soon, mechanically, dispirited after a dreary day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shiver ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. And at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory—this new sensation having had the effect, which love has, of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me, it was me. I had ceased now to feel mediocre, contingent, mortal. Whence could it have come to me, this all-powerful joy? I sensed that it was connected with the taste of the tea and the cake, but that it infinitely transcended these savours, could not, indeed, be of the same nature. Where did it come from? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it? I drink a second mouthful, in which I find nothing more than the first, then a third, which gives me rather less than the second. It is time to stop; the potion is losing its virtue. It is plain that the truth I am seeking lies not in the cup but in myself. The drink has called it into being, but does not know it, and can only repeat indefinitely, with a progressive diminution of strength, the same message which I cannot interpret, though I hope at least to be able to call it forth again and to find it there presently, intact and at my disposal, for my final enlightenment. I put down the cup and examine my own mind. I put down the cup and and examine my own mind. It alone can discover the truth. But how? What an abyss of uncertainty, whenever the mind feels overtaken by itself; when it, the seeker, is at the same time the dark region through which it must go seeking and where all its equipment will avail it nothing. Seek? More than that: create. It is face to face with something which does not yet exist, which it alone can make actual, which it alone can bring into the light of day.

—Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time [I.45-46]

[theidealistphilosophy]

Because we are in the world, we are condemned to meaning, and we cannot do or say anything without its acquiring a name in history.

Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception.

[stargir1z]

"What is a Woman? Butler and Beauvoir on the Foundations of the Sexual Difference" by Sara Heinämaa

[dare-g]

Questions of Perception Phenomenology of Architecture

[philosophybitmaps]

[itsmadhvi]

How to change your perception?

Most people says that if you change your perception and the way you look at world, everything changes. But nobody tells us how we should change our perception? Maurice Merleau Ponty, a French Philosopher, Phenomenologist, and believer in Gestalt Psychology has said about how we could change our perception. For understanding this, we should first understand the objects towards which our…

[moonsandhues]

just casual workout thoughts

[fieriframes]

[IT'S THE PERFECTION OF THE KITCHEN... PICK UP, CUBAN. BUT PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION, TR. SO MEET THE DeCOURSY BROTHERS, FIRST-TIME RESTAURANT OWNERS]

[penhive]

Phenomenology of the Spirit

Phenomenology refers to contents of consciousness and here I want to probe its relationship with the spirit.

Transcendental Consciousness

Transcendental consciousness is the relationship with the divine and it is exhorted as a process to a deity, our kinship with God of the father, our fulfillment of our hopes and desires through the agent of prayer, our faith in God in times of trouble, our solace, comfort and mercy and grace. Our relationship with God is I and the though and it’s a beatific experience.

Perceptional Consciousness

Perception is a mental process and it’s through perception that we come into awareness of things and ideas. The thing for perception is the volition of the will.

Cognitive Consciousness

Cognitive consciousness relates to the understanding of things and ideas. Cognition can be cultural of scientific. An example of cultural consciousness is: is racism good or bad for the society? Another example is should sex be straight or gay? An example of scientific consciousness can be the mathematics of Pythagoras; another example is the study of the cosmos. 

Self-consciousness

Self-consciousness is the becoming aware of ourselves. It includes the nature of being (the consciousness of the itself), our thinking of consciousness (memory) the consciousness of the itself (being for itself) and the consciousness of being for others. Love and hate, joy and peace are all parts of self-consciousness.

Cathartic Consciousness

Cathartic consciousness is the consciousness of beauty, a feeling gained by encountering art, travelling, being in solitude, being in conversation with nature, and also cathartic consciousness involves creating artistic artifacts. Cathartic consciousness is a jouissance of the mind. We are beatified with the consciousness of aesthetic experience.