In the traditional Japanese art of arranging flowers - ikebana, "living flowers", or kado, "the way of flowers" - special attention is paid to the so-called negative space. How can a gap, an empty space be important, valuable, and even beautiful? With its history of more than 1,500 years, ikebana, unlike Western flower arrangement practices, … Continue reading Importance of Gaps
Obligation to Be Clear
In this passage from his 1953 book "The Captive Mind", Czeslaw Milosz tells us about the experiences of artists in the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries that came under its influence. In particular, the effects of the dictatorship of the one Method manifest in individual self-censorship and the gradually sedimenting conviction that things cannot … Continue reading Obligation to Be Clear
Critical Problem of Universal Theories
As attractive as theories promising to explain everything may be, any theory that claims universality faces a critical challenge. This challenge is built into its very claim of universality and consists in the following. A theory is elaborated and posited by someone, perhaps a group of people, maybe with the help of AI. No matter … Continue reading Critical Problem of Universal Theories
Merleau-Ponty on the Perceived World
"The perceived world is the always presupposed foundation of all rationality, all value and all existence. This thesis does not destroy either rationality or the absolute. It only tries to bring them down to earth." Merleau-Ponty ("The Visible and the Invisible", 1968) keep exploring! P.S. Thank you for visiting me here on the humanfactor.blog! If you enjoyed … Continue reading Merleau-Ponty on the Perceived World
Paul Ricoeur on Narrative Identity
In a passage from Paul Ricoeur's 1991 essay Narrative Identity, the French philosopher discusses the narrative constitution of identity, be it personal or community. In this passage, he proposes the idea of narrative identity as a fundamental experience that integrates history and fiction into one type of narrative - that which is concerned with interpreting … Continue reading Paul Ricoeur on Narrative Identity
Philosophical Concepts: Structuralism
What is structuralism as a philosophical concept? Here is how the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy explains it. Structuralism is viewed as a broad intellectual movement that originated from linguistics (especially the work of Saussure) and expanded beyond, reaching its height in the 1960s. Lévi-Strauss was the leading structuralist in anthropology. A crucial idea of structuralism … Continue reading Philosophical Concepts: Structuralism
Habits and Norms
What makes some actions and ways of moving appear 'normal' to us while others 'strange'? According to Sara Ahmed, at the heart of the matter is repetition. When repeated regularly by enough people, that way of being gradually becomes the 'norm'. We say then - that is just how things are. It is a given. … Continue reading Habits and Norms
Welcoming Spaces
What makes a space welcoming? How do we experience space as welcoming instead of hostile or simply indifferent? Maurice Merleau-Ponty observes that our bodies trail behind our actions in our daily lives. I am involved in an activity, for example, walking my dog. Usually, I do not notice my body and each of its movements … Continue reading Welcoming Spaces
Shifting Perspective
Very few of us have had a chance to look at our planet. Look at it as if from a spacecraft passing by on its way to some unknown destination. We may be used to the idea of our planet as a pale blue dot and may have seen pictures of it, which is already a lot. But what … Continue reading Shifting Perspective
Exploring the Familiar
What do we overlook when we stay in the familiar? What can looking at the familiar reveal about it? This quote is from an article I wrote about the area of philosophy called phenomenology. One of its key ideas is known as bracketing or suspending. "What should we bracket? Our natural attitude – the familiar, pre-theoretical, uncritical … Continue reading Exploring the Familiar
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