AGAINST EPISTEMOLOGICAL HIERARCHIES: ON THE VALUE OF FORMING BODILY KNOWLEDGE

I E Sirotkina

doi:10.23951/2782-2575-2021-1-5-20

Abstract

The article reveals such concepts as “metis,” “body techniques,” “practical skill,” “kinesthetic intelligence,” and “movement skill.” These concepts are united by the fact that the accumulation of knowledge is presented as a largely unconscious process in which muscles play the same role as the brain. The essence of these concepts can be expressed in the term “bodily knowledge,” which contrasts itself in the epistemological sense with codified practical knowledge, instructions, and rules – techne. Bodily knowledge is based on movements and muscle sensations. Russian physiologist I.M. Sechenov called this sensation “dark,” pointing out that such sensations are almost impossible to comprehend, describe, and analyze. However, such feelings cannot be entirely opposed to thought. This “smart skill,” as poet and writer Varlam Shalamov called it, can be considered a separate type of cognition. This article is an attempt to comprehensively discuss the concept of “body knowledge.”

Highlights

There is a citation from the poem “Memory” by Varlam Shalamov in the title of this paper: Если ты владел умело Топором или пилой, Остается в мышцах тела Память радости былой
Without the bodily knowledge of labor skills, without the “smart skill,” he would most likely not have survived in the Gulag
How can we describe this body memory, this “muscular knowledge” – not in poetic language, but in more or less academic prose? Several synonymous concept words are used for that purpose: practical skill, skill, metis, body techniques, motor, or kinesthetic intelligence

Summary

Introduction

There is a citation from the poem “Memory” by Varlam Shalamov in the title of this paper: Если ты владел умело Топором или пилой, Остается в мышцах тела Память радости былой. Several synonymous concept words are used for that purpose: practical skill, skill, metis, body techniques, motor, or kinesthetic intelligence.

Results

Conclusion