Bodily Awareness Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.docx
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Bodily Awareness Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.docx
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BodilyAwarenessStanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy
BodilyAwareness(StanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy)
BodilyAwarenessFirstpublishedTueAug9,2011
Weareawareofourbodies.Iseetheworldbyopeningmyeyesand
insodoing,Ifeelthemotionofmyeyelid.Ifeelthatmylegsare
crossedandthatmyarmisraising;Ifeeltiredandthirsty;Ifeel
cold;Ifeelmyteethbegintochatter;mybackitches.Thewaywe
relatetoourbody,includingthewayweperceiveit,controlitand
affectivelyreacttowhathappenstoit,isunlikethewaywerelateto
otherobjects.
Despiteitsrichness,bodilyawarenesshasattractedrelatively
littleattentionfromphilosopherswiththenotableexceptionof
phenomenologists.Neuropsychologistsandpsychiatrists,however,have
confrontedthemulti-facetedphenomenologyofbodilyawarenessthrough
awidevarietyofdisorders.Inaddition,thestudyofthebodyhas
recentlyboomedincognitiveneuroscience.Thestudyofbodily
illusionshasraisedawiderangeofphilosophicalquestionsaboutthe
underlyingmechanismsofbodilyself-awareness.
Thenotionofbodilyawarenessisatthecrossroadsofphilosophical
debatesontheself,actionandspace.Thisentrywillfocusontwo
mainquestions:
(i)Howdoestheawarenessofone'sbodydiffer
fromtheawarenessofotherobjects?
(ii)Whataretherolesofaction
andmentalrepresentationsofthebodyforbodilyawareness?
1.Characterizingbodilyawareness
1.1Thephenomenologyofbodilyawareness
1.2Sourcesofbodilyawareness
1.3Disordersofbodilyawareness
2.Theoriesofbodilyawareness
2.1Therepresentationalistapproach
2.1.1Whybodyrepresentations?
2.1.2Howmanybodyrepresentations?
2.2Thesensorimotorapproach
2.2.1Thelivedbody
2.2.2Dissociationbetweenbodilyawarenessandaction
3.Bodilyawarenessandperception
3.1Dobodilyexperiencesqualifyasperceptualexperiences?
3.2Theimportanceofvisionforbodilyexperiences
4.Thespatialityofbodilyawareness
4.1Thepeculiarityofthespatialityofbodilysensations
4.2Dualspatialcontent
4.3Peripersonalspace
5.Thesenseofbodyownership
5.1Thephenomenologyofmyness
5.2Thegroundsofthesenseofbodyownership
5.3Empiricalstudiesofownershipanddisownership
6.Theepistemologyofbodilyawareness
6.1Bodilyillusions
6.2Immunitytoerrorthroughmisidentificationofbodilyself-ascriptions
7.Thefunctionalroleofbodilyawareness
7.1Emotions
7.2Perceptualawareness
7.3Socialcognition
8.Conclusion
Bibliography
AcademicTools
OtherInternetResources
RelatedEntries1.Characterizingbodilyawareness
Bodilyawarenessmayseemlessrichanddetailedthanvisual
awareness,whichcanbeanalysedasfulloffine-grainedcolourshades
andwell-individuatedthree-dimensionalshapesthatmovearound.All
weexperienceisthisconstantblurryfuzzy“feelingofthesame
oldbodyalwaysthere”(James,1890,p.242).Yet,assoonaswe
payattentiontoourbody,webecomeawareofthepositionand
movementsofourlimbs,ofthecontactofourclothesonourskin,of
themusclepaininourlegs,ofoursensationofthirst.Itmaybe
difficulttodescribewhatwefeel,butwhatwefeelcanbesointense
thatwearesometimesnotabletothinkofanythingelsethanour
body.
1.1Thephenomenologyofbodilyawareness
Althoughintrospectivelyfamiliar,itishardtoexactlypinpointthe
natureofthespecificrelationthatwehavewithourbody.Letus
compare,forinstance,theexperienceofmovingourhandandthe
experienceofmovingacursoronthescreen.Themovementsofthe
cursormatchourintentionsinthesamewayasthemovementsofour
hand,thoughthecursormovementsrequireintermediatehandmovements.
Yet,evenifwewereabletomovethecursorwithonlythesupportof
ourbrainactivity(nowpossiblewithbrain-machineinterfaces),it
seemsthattherewouldstillbeadifferencebetweentheexperienceof
controllingthecursorandtheexperienceofcontrollingourhand.In
particular,wewouldhaveadifferenttypeofanticipatoryknowledge
ofthemovements(O'Shaughnessy,1980;Wong,2009).Inthenon-bodily
case,ourknowledgeresultsfrominferencesdrawnonthebasisof
systematicobservations.Bycontrast,inthehandcase,thereisno
suchmediation.Weimmediatelyknowfromtheinsidethatourhandwill
moveatwill.
Whatmakesourbodysospecialmaybethatunlikeotherphysical
objects,notonlydoweperceiveitthroughexternalsenses,butwe
havealsoaninternalaccesstoitthroughbodilysensations.Oneway
tocharacterizetherelationthatwehaveonlywithourbody(orwhat
weexperienceasourbody)isthustosaythatonlyourbodyappears
tousfromtheinside.Incontrast,manybodies,includingourown,
canappeartousfromtheoutside.Thedualityofaccesstoourbody
isbestexpressedinwhatisknownasthetouchant-touché
phenomenon.Whenwetouchourkneewithourhand,wehaveatactile
experienceofourkneefromtheoutside(touché),butwehave
alsoatactileexperienceofourkneefromtheinside(touchant),and
thesameistrueofthehand.
Despitetheconstantflowofinformationaboutourbodyfromthe
inside,ourbodilyawarenessissurprisinglyweak.Whiletypingona
laptop,wedonotvividlyexperienceourfingersonthekeyboard.Our
consciousfieldisprimarilyoccupiedbythecontentofwhatweare
typing,andmoregenerallybytheexternalworldratherthanbythe
bodilymediumthatallowsustoperceiveitandtomovethroughit.We
usethebody,butwerarelyreflectuponit.
Thisisnottosay,however,thatwearecompletelyunawareofour
body.Ourattentioncanturntoourbodyforinstanceinacute
sensationsofpain,orinmotorlearning.Inaddition,onemayclaim
thatweareconstantlyconsciousofthepresenceofourbody,thoughat
themarginofthestreamofconsciousness.AsJames(1890,242)says,
“Ourownbodilyposition,attitude,condition,isoneofthe
thingsofwhichsomeawareness,howeverinattentive,invariably
accompaniestheknowledgeofwhateverelseweknow.”Similarly,
Gurwitsch(1985,31)asserts:
“Thereisnomomentinour
consciouslifewhenwearecompletelyunawareofourbodilyposture,of
thefactthatwearewalking,standing,sitting,lyingdown”.
Thequestionthenarises:
howdetailedismarginalbodilyawareness?
Areweconstantlyconsciousofthebodyinallitsdetailsoronlyas
aunitarywholewithoutanyinternaldifferentiation?
Atfirstsight,
bodilyawarenessseemstobereducibletotheunarticulated
“feelingofthesameoldbodyalwaysthere”(James,1890,
242).However,bothJamesandGurwitschdescribeamorespecific
phenomenology,notonlyglobalfeelingsofbodilypresence,
butalsoparticularsensationsofbodilypostureand
state.InTheWill,O'Shaughnessy(1980)arguesthatin
ordertoact,weneedtobepre-attentivelyconsciousofallthe
pointsofthebodyatanymoment.However,helatercriticizeshis
ownviewforlackofparsimonyandplausibility(O'Shaughnessy,
1995).Instead,hesuggeststhatwearepermanentlyawareofourbody
asanundifferentiatedwhole,exceptwhenacting.Actionsthen
automaticallytriggerapreciseawarenessofthebodilyeffectors,
whiletheotherpartsofthebodyrecedeinawareness.
Yet,somemayquestionwhetheractionrequiresbodilyawareness,and
ifitdoes,inwhatsense(Wong,2010).Actionrequiresdetailed
informationaboutthelong-termandshort-termpropertiesofthebodily
effectors.Butdoestheinformationneedtoreachthethresholdof
awareness,evenatthemargin?
Severalempiricalresultscastsome
doubtsonthenecessityofbodilyawarenessforactioncontrol.For
instance,patientssufferingfromperipheraldeafferentationnolonger
receivetactileandproprioceptivesignals.Inotherwords,they
partiallylacktheawarenessoftheirbodyfromtheinside.Yet,they
retaintheirabilitytocontroltheirmovementsaslongastheycansee
theirlimbsmoving.Moregenerally,itwasfoundthatwehavelimited
awarenessofthedetailsofourbodilymovements(Fourneretand
Jeannerod,1998).Thebodyisnotalwaysimmediatelypresentinallits
detailstothesubject,evenwhenacting
Thebodythereforehasthispeculiarfeature.Itisalways
immediatelypresenttothesubject(Merleau-Ponty,1945;
O'Shaughnessy,1980),butthemostpermanentandpreponderant
objectinlifemayalsobethemostelusiveone(Leder,1990).
1.2Sourcesofbodilyawareness
Onestrategytoanalysethephenomenologyofbodilyawarenessisto
trackitsorigin.Assaidearlier,weperceiveourbodynotonlyfrom
theoutside,butalsofromtheinside.Althoughwidelyaccepted,the
distinctionbetweenthetwoexperientialmodesofpresentationofthe
bodyisrarelyspelledoutandoftenreducedtothedichotomybetween
externalsensesandbodysenses,whichincludetouch,proprioception,
thevestibular,thenociceptiveandtheinteroceptivesystems.
Touchismediatedbycutaneousmechanoreceptors.Itcarries
informationbothabouttheexternalworld(shapeofthetouchedobject)
andaboutthebody(pressureonthespecificpartoftheskin)(Katz,
1925).Furthermore,touchissaidtoprocessmanytypesofproperties
includingtexture,temperature,solidity,humidity,contact,weight,
pressure,force,vibration,andsoon.
Proprioceptionprovidesinformationaboutthepositionandmovement
ofthebody.Themechanismsofproprioceptionincludemusclespindles,
whicharesensitivetomusclestretch,Golgitendonorgans,whichare
sensitivetotendontension,andjointreceptors,whicharesensitive
tojointposition.
Thevestibularsystemintheinnerearprovidesinformationabout
thebalanceofthebody.Itincludesthreerou
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