Spreading the Word: What Is Lived Experience?

People use the expression 'lived experience' with increasing frequency. We usually mean it as the first-person privileged access to a particular way of experiencing something. Usually, this particular way is intertwined with and expressed in various social identity terms. My lived experience as a woman, as a migrant, as an Eastern European, and so on. … Continue reading Spreading the Word: What Is Lived Experience?

Measuring and Living an Experience

What's the weather like where you are now? How would you check it - glance out the window, open it to get a feel, step outside, consult your preferred weather app? From this follows a more intriguing question - which would you trust more, your lived experience or a measurement? I'm from a generation that … Continue reading Measuring and Living an Experience

How to Understand Human Sociality?

Humans are social beings. We all have experienced the importance of feeling part of a group, relating to others, being with others, not just next to each other. But how should we go about understanding our own sociality? Where does it begin, and what is its foundation? What is more fundamental - recognising the individual differences between … Continue reading How to Understand Human Sociality?

Worlds and World-Travelling according to Maria Lugones

What world do you live in? Is it the same as the one I inhabit? What about your friends, family, each and every person you pass by in the street, and all those billions you will never meet? In one sense, we all inhabit the same world - our one and only pale blue dot, … Continue reading Worlds and World-Travelling according to Maria Lugones

Spreading the Word: Embodiment and Philosophy of the Body

Is the body the foundation of philosophy? Of anything, really?

Paradox of Effort and Effect of Repetition

"If we work hard at something, then it seems "effortless".This paradox - with effort it becomes effortless - is precisely what makes history disappear in the moment of its enactment. The repetition of the work is what makes the work disappear... [R]epetition of action takes us in certain directions: we are also orientating ourselves toward … Continue reading Paradox of Effort and Effect of Repetition

Spreading the Word: Different Worlds We Experience

When we experience the world and interpret its meaning, it is not so much "I'll believe it when I see it", it is rather "I will see it if I believe it". And - in the way that I believe it to be. Curious? Then you might be interested in this short BBC Ideas video: … Continue reading Spreading the Word: Different Worlds We Experience

Spreading the Word: Importance of Meaning-Making

Why is it much more important to understand than to know? Why are all the 'why' questions significant, and how an understanding of reasons shapes our actions? I found these two articles that I would like to share with you today: on understanding and on 'why'. In each article, the authors offer their take on … Continue reading Spreading the Word: Importance of Meaning-Making

Spreading the Word: Phenomenology of Edmund Husserl

The 20th-century German mathematician-turned-philosopher Edmund Husserl was the principal founder of the philosophical school and method of Phenomenology. His works are still actively studied today and he is considered one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. One way of approaching the vast phenomenon that is phenomenology (pun intended), is to explore the … Continue reading Spreading the Word: Phenomenology of Edmund Husserl

Meaning of Our Life-Meaning Questions

What do we mean when we ask "what's the meaning of life" and "what's the purpose of life"? The way we pose these life-meaning questions indicates a silent assumption - that there is an inherent meaning and purpose to life as such. That these are hidden features of life itself waiting to be discovered by … Continue reading Meaning of Our Life-Meaning Questions