Hi Adrian,
I suspect it hangs a bit on what you might take as an example of 'disembodiment'. We work in technology design, so many of our discussions of embodiment tend to revolve around the human experience of virtual reality systems. The conception of e.g. human perception that is 'built in' to such systems is frequently a very Cartesian one, treating the perceiver as only contingently related to the body. In this case, it makes a particular sense to speak of some kind of disembodiment-not necessarily in the user's experience of the system, but in the underlying conception informing its design. (One could make a similar argument in regard to the design of the television screen as a technology). In your case, what would you take as a prime example of a Western 'more disembodied self'? That may help determine how best to tiptoe through the minefield. Good luck!
Cheers
Ben
On 8/11/11 3:40 PM, "Adrian Harris" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Hi,
I'm working on a book chapter at the moment and have a question about
terminology. Although 'embodiment' is an aspect of human subjectivity
rather than a fact of physical reality, what does it mean to speak of
being disembodied? Does it make sense to say, for example, "Western
civilization creates a more disembodied self'? One can argue that we
must be embodied to exist, in which case this needs to be phrased
differently - something like: "[t]he experience the self has been
essentially disembodied" (Burkitt, 'Bodies of Thought', 1999; 45).
This does mean composing quite convoluted sentences, so I'm interested
in how other people have tackled this.
Cheers!
Adrian
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