Teaching practising: Its subtractive sensibilities

Abstract

This article proposes that, alongside the teaching of the specific contents of any practice, we can better apprehend what informs a teaching of practising by invoking the notion of subtractive sensibility. The article disambiguates practices from practising per se, drawing on the author’s existing research in the field of practising theory and the four criteria of practising. The article then explores the idea of the subtractive via the works of philosopher, Alain Badiou and professor of education, Jakob Muth. Three subtractive sensibilities are then proposed: relaxation-in-the-face-of-difficulty, non-purposiveness and acausality. These are relevant to teaching not only discrete practices but also practising, where the latter is an approach to doing that invites transformation without undermining steadiness or going via destruction.