The embodied subject from "summary" of The Visible and the Invisible by Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty discusses how the human body is a key element of our identity, and how it affects our experience and understanding of the world. He argues that our physicality is an integral part of our identity, and that understanding ourselves requires an understanding of our embodiment.- One's identity is heavily intertwined with their body, since physical attributes strongly contribute the perception of selfhood.
- All our conscious experiences take shape thanks to the presence of the body: we are incarnate from birth to death.
- The human being is always rooted in its physical environment and thus constitutes an embodied subjectivity.
- Experiencing pleasure or pain, as well as performing complex skills, can be only achieved through our embodiment.
- Many sensations and feelings arise only because of the way our body interacts with the world around us.
- From daily activities to profound emotions, our everyday life turns out to be shaped by material conditionings that originates from within ourselves.
- Even though it's not visible, we can infer that the freedom of action depends largely upon bodily constrains.
- Our normal activities support a deeper understanding of how the physical element can play a defining role when interpreting the influence of the invisible.
