Phenomenological Insights Research Articles

Understanding Embodiment and Existentialism in Contemporary Chinese Dance

This paper employs the theoretical framework of phenomenology of the body to explore embodiment and existentialism in contemporary Chinese dance. With the backdrop of the current status and influence of Chinese contemporary dance in the realm of dance arts, it analyzes the unique forms and techniques of bodily expression in Chinese contemporary dance, attempting to explore how personal emotions, inner experiences, and spiritual states are conveyed through bodily expression in Chinese contemporary dance. The paper utilizes case analysis and observational research methods to delve into the cognition of bodily expression and identity construction in Chinese contemporary dance, as well as how the body is used to reflect on the cognition and positioning of Chinese traditional and modern cultural identities, exploring the diversity and changes in Chinese cultural identity. Finally, by applying Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body theory, it deeply analyzes the significance and existentialism of bodily expression in contemporary Chinese dance, experiencing and understanding the relationship between bodily subjectivity and self through dance. Through these studies, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complexity and diversity of bodily expression in contemporary Chinese dance, enabling dancers to reassess their ability to express emotions, as well as the application and insights of Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of the body therein.

Phenomenological Insights into Self-Determination Among Saudi Employed Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Phenomenological Insights into Self-Determination Among Saudi Employed Adults with Intellectual Disabilities

Phenomenological Insights on Decent Work and Its Relevance to Local Economic Development

The concept of decent work has few explanatory references and comparative descriptions due to limited research. So far, the concept of decent work only refers to standards and concepts issued by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Meanwhile, the Local Economic Development (LED) approach is an alternative strategy that prioritizes local aspects and resources for effective development. The research method chosen in this research is the phenomenological method. The phenomenological method explores human experiences (people’s lived experiences). This is in line with the concept of decent work and local economic development, which is highly influenced by the opinions and narratives described by the community, in this case, the research participants. This research explains the concept of decent work and local economic development based on the conditions of Banjarmasin City. It generated five explanatory clusters in this research. Cluster of general perspectives and specific perspectives related to the concept of decent work. The general perspective is that decent work should meet minimum standards and protect workers’ rights. While a specific perspective emphasizes subjectivity in viewing various decent work concepts. The other three clusters were formed from the exploration of the concept of local economic development, such as the challenge cluster, the opportunity cluster, and the relationship cluster between the concept of local economic development and decent work. These three clusters emphasize that the development concept requires comprehensive planning. Development faces challenges, such as insufficient government support, uncooperative communities, and disinterest among local people, but there are opportunities to boost local economies and improve work decency and conditions.

Über Erfüllung

Abstract In his 1956 book Das Gemüt, Stephan Strasser presents an original phenomenological investigation into human happiness and pleasure. We will examine Strasser’s theory of happiness in more detail and reveal how he incorporates important phenomenological insights from Thomas Aquinas’ theory of the passions of the soul. Both Strasser and Aquinas view happiness as the fulfilment of intentional striving and differentiate between various feelings associated with the pursuit and attainment of a goal, such as joy and pleasure. However, while Aquinas believes that only an imperfect form of happiness can be attained in this life, Strasser aims to determine the essence of the highest form of happiness possible for human beings as the felt anticipation of perfect happiness in the future. Strasser, therefore, interprets Aquinas’ theory through the lens of an existential-phenomenological approach.

Phenomenology and the Concept of Consciousness

Purpose: The general objective of the study was to explore phenomenology and the concept of consciousness. Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library. Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to phenomenology and the concept of consciousness. Preliminary empirical review revealed a complex relationship between subjective experience and cognitive and neural mechanisms. It demonstrated that phenomenology, focusing on first-person perspectives and intentionality, offers a robust framework for understanding consciousness as an active, embodied engagement with the world. The integration of phenomenological insights with cognitive science and neuroscience provided a comprehensive view, correlating subjective reports with neural activity. This approach proved valuable in clinical settings, enhancing mental health interventions by focusing on individual experiences. The study highlighted the promise of ongoing interdisciplinary research to advance both scientific and philosophical understandings of consciousness. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Theory of Intentionality, Embodies Cognition Theory and Global Workspace Theory may be used to anchor future studies on phenomenology and the concept of consciousness. The study recommended further development of theoretical frameworks integrating phenomenology with cognitive neuroscience, emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary research collaborations. It suggested incorporating phenomenological approaches into mental health practices to enhance patient-centered care and advocated for training healthcare professionals in these methods. The study also advised policymakers to integrate phenomenological findings into mental health policies and prioritize funding for programs that recognize subjective experiences. Lastly, it highlighted the need for future research to explore long-term effects, cultural factors, and new neuroimaging techniques to advance the understanding of consciousness.

Experience without essentialism: on ‘posting’ phenomenology

ABSTRACT In contemporary qualitative research, phenomenology is often dismissed by postqualitative inquiry (PQI) for clinging to a view of reality as fixed, self-evident, and containing inherent essences. The purpose of this article is to ask how committed phenomenologists might respond to these charges. Employing a somewhat paradoxical defense strategy, the article jumps to phenomenology’s defense by conceding most of PQI’s criticism, but arguing that these deficiencies are contingent theoretical assumptions that can (and should) be developed through dialogue with poststructuralist traditions like PQI. The article then delves into the process of ‘posting’ phenomenology. More specifically, it introduces postphenomenology, a contemporary approach that seeks to reconcile phenomenological insights with poststructuralist concerns and is explicitly anchored in an antiessentialist, relational ontology. Finally, the article argues that the inclusion of postphenomenological insights in PQI would enable a deeper comprehension of the intricate dynamics between humans, technologies, and the worlds that they inhabit.

“You can be cured, but cancer never leaves you behind”: an interdisciplinary approach into the embodied cancer experiences among adult Colombian childhood/adolescent cancer survivors

Purpose Childhood or adolescent cancer survivors (CACS) are an understudied population in Colombia and, in general, in Central and South America. Worldwide, studies typically focus on high-income settings while approaching CACS’ experiences from a biomedical or psychological perspective. However, both perspectives miss an important aspect of survivorship after childhood or adolescent cancer: the affected individual’s subjective experiences of having a disabled body. This qualitative study aimed to explore the embodied experiences of Colombian adults who survived cancer during their childhood or adolescence to better understand how CACS relate to their altered body and world. Methods By integrating phenomenological insights and conducting comprehensive life-story interviews, we explored the various ways in which survivors’ cancer experiences affect their bodily sense of self—from the acute phase of the disease until well into adulthood. A total of ten life-stories interviews and one focus group were carried out with seven CACS. All participants were survivors of a different type of childhood/adolescent cancer. The results were analyzed thematically, focusing on the embodied aspects of participants’ experiences. Results We developed three main themes regarding the embodied cancer experience among participating CACS: Firstly, participants’ body changes because of the cancer and its treatment, which makes them aware of their body. Secondly, they adapt to this experience in different bodily ways. Finally, they carry bodily traces of their cancer experience in the present as well as into the future. Conclusions The CACS participating in this study report that their experience with cancer has been embodied throughout their lives, changing their sense of their body and how they relate to it, and leaving traces into the present and their imagined future.

Habits of creativity: agency and children’s drama practice in imaginary play and elective classes

Children engage in embodied, imaginative performance in two fundamental ways: universally in socio-dramatic imaginary play and selectively in elective performing arts classes, which, for most children who enjoy drama, happen outside the education system. In play, self-actualised, peer-to-peer agency dominates: in drama classes, agency is often asymmetrically negotiated with adults who are drama practitioners. My current research project uses qualitative methods, mainly semi-structured one-to-one interviews, to explore the phenomenological insights of children into the tension between creative agency and collective creativity and how the fluidity between play and structured drama offers children the potential to mitigate this tension. Using Bourdieu’s theory of practice and the concept of habitus as a reference point, I examine how children’s creative habits forged in play, such as the heavily agentic elements of liminality, roleplay and transformation together with a playful, prosaic capacity for productive flow that marginalises ‘failure’, can form a productive congruence with structured drama. Just as the theory of practice emphasises agency as a dynamic, action orientated process, I find that children’s creative cultures frame agency as a matrix of continual negotiations which enable a robust, productive peer-to-peer dramatic creativity, but which can also accommodate a complex interrelation with asymmetric agency. In the wider theatre training context, whether for children’s classes or vocational training, a balance between respecting and enhancing the qualities and creative habits that students already have with meeting their developmental needs and wants may be beneficial in enhancing the collective creativity at the heart of theatre performance.

Brentano and Husserl on Hume’s Moral Philosophy

ABSTRACT The article analyses the reception of Hume’s moral philosophy in the lectures and manuscripts of Edmund Husserl and in the published lectures of Franz Brentano, on which Husserl originally based his views. I first present the reasons that led Brentano to appreciate Hume’s sentimentalist background in moral philosophy and to criticize Hume’s relativism. I then show how Husserl, following the critique of psychologism in his Logical Investigations, builds on this starting point and attempts to show a possible contradictory nature of Hume’s moral relativism. Finally, I consider whether Hume’s doctrine contains phenomenological insights that Husserl overlooks.

A phenomenological insight into the use of pandemic pedagogy in the primary English Language Arts Grammar class

The Covid-19 Pandemic led to online teaching at all levels of education in Trinidad and Tobago. The teaching of all subject areas, including Grammar, had to be adjusted to suit this new educational paradigm. This study seeks to examine the pedagogical approaches to the teaching of Grammar at the primary level in Trinidad and Tobago during the Covid-19 period. The study utilized a hermeneutic phenomenological approach wherein the teachers were given an open-ended questionnaire covering aspects of teaching strategies employed during this pandemic. The findings reveal that while online teaching allowed for diverse teaching strategies, students’ over reliance on the grammatical tools made it challenging for teacher to determine whether they really grasped the concept.

Phenomenological Insights into Entrepreneurial Failure Cases in Türkiye

Phenomenological Insights into Entrepreneurial Failure Cases in Türkiye

The ambiguous beginning of life and the binary pattern – a phenomenological analysis of intersexual experience

In my paper, I attempt a phenomenological analysis of the lived experience of intersexuality, which I view from the perspective of the problem of indeterminacy concerning the horizon of the givenness of homeworld founded on the broader basis of the pre-givenness of lifeworld. These horizons define the structure of the sedimentation of subjective experience, as well as the layers of cultural meanings sedimented in the lifeworld. The sedimented layers of self-experience and of the shared lifeworld function as a sphere of indeterminacy, that is the horizons of constituted phenomena. In this sense all intentional acts have the nature of horizontal indeterminacy, the layers of which are revealed in the genetic question (Rückfrage) directed toward them. Horizontal indeterminacy also accounts for the distinction between homeworld and alienworld, which appears as something unobvious and unexpected against the obviousness of the homeworld, at the same time thematizing the latter. One of the elements of the sedimented conceptual system, functioning as the horizon of indeterminacy of both self-experience and the pre-reflective life-world, is the notion of human corporeality as given in the binary sexuality/gender. A unique opportunity for phenomenological insight into the constitution of the phenomenon of sex/gender is provided by Hida Viloria's lived experience of intersexuality. Her lived body, originally experienced pre-reflectively as a transparent medium and a perfectly handy tool of undisturbed intentionality, unproblematized also in the sexual activities, gradually undergoes alienation under the objectifying gaze determined by the binary pattern of sexuality. Becoming an alienated object, her body loses its transparency. Viloria begins to experience her corporeality and identity in a way determined by the sedimented "ideology" of sex and gender, trying on the "constructs" of masculine and feminine identities, eventually overcoming alienation and, in a process of secondary self-identification, reclaiming her lived body in its intersexuality and her identity in its non-binary gender fluidity.

An isochoric optical platform for interrogation of aqueous glass formation processes.

Aqueous vitrification (glass formation) processes are integral to modern cryopreservation, but experimental methods by which to study them are limited, particularly at the mL volume scales relevant to many biomedical applications. Here, we introduce an inexpensive custom optical platform, the isochoric vitrification cryo-macroscope (or "isovitriscope"), to supplement standard techniques with new qualitative and quantitative data streams. The platform consists of an LED light source, a isochoric (constant-volume) chamber with sapphire optical windows, and a camera, which can operate in two modes. One mode enables sharp visual observation of the glass transition and other low-temperature physical processes, including cracking, annealing, ice and hydrate crystallization, cavity formation, melting, etc. The other mode enables tracking of the optical temperature-evolution of the system via recorded light intensity, which we demonstrate may be used to measure the onset glass transition temperature with accuracy similar to differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and to identify the temperature coordinates of other phase change events. The isovitriscope thus offers a single device combining the phenomenological insight of conventional visual inspection with the quantitative insight of techniques like calorimetry, at the >1 mL volume scales increasingly relevant to cryopreservation applications. To demonstrate uses of the isochoric optical platform, we herein conduct a series of observational studies examining the rich multi-phase phenomena at play during isochoric vitrification of binary cryoprotectant solutions; the effect of surface wettabilities on crack formation in the glassy state; the analogy between differential calorimetric and optical analysis; and more. In summary, the isochoric vitrification cryo-macroscope, or isovitriscope, adds a valuable new tool for the study of aqueous vitrification processes.

Revealing the invisible: A phenomenological reading of N.B. Phuong’s The Absent (1999) and W. Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying (1930)

This article conducts a comparative analysis of the concept of invisibility within two literary works: The Absent(Nguoi di vang, in Vietnamese) by N.B. Phuong and As I Lay Dying by W. Faulkner. It employs M. Henry’s phenomenological insights into life and aesthetics as a theoretical framework to delve into the expression and perception of invisibility in these texts. The study demonstrates that invisibility plays a dynamic role in both novels, exploring how it is articulated, revealed, perceived, and comprehended. By immersing characters in states of dying and coma, these narratives facilitate an exploration of the invisible as a perceptual experience. Both authors delve into the realm of invisibility by granting voices to the earth and its inhabitants, simultaneously emphasizing the silences and gaps in human communication. The central objective of this article is to identify common themes and perspectives related to the manifestation of life in these two writers’ works. Both N.B. Phuong and Faulkner conceive life as fundamentally invisible, with art serving as the means to unveil this invisible life.

Evaluating the role of psychedelic psychotherapy in addressing societal alienation: Imaginaries of liberation

AbstractQuestions are currently being posed concerning the implications of the clinical uptake of psychedelics. While enthusiasm surrounds the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelics and critique surrounds their appropriation to commercial ends, limited attention has been given to the role of psychedelics in generating social transformation. Herbert Marcuse contended radical change requires ‘new imaginaries of liberation’. We consider whether clinical uptake of psychedelics may produce the perceptual shifts necessary to generate social transformation surrounding contemporary alienating conditions. Economic structures contributing to these alienating conditions are highly resistant to change and may neuter psychedelics' revolutionary potential. We illustrate how psychedelics may be instrumentalised: regulating individuals into unjust systems; redirecting psychedelic usage away from therapeutic ends towards productivity; distracting or diverting attention from systemic forms of control; usurping non-ordinary states into the domain of self-care; and fetishistically commodifying psychedelic experience as a consumable. There are, however, reasons to believe that psychedelics, in raising consciousnesses, may prove resistant to co-option. In particular, psychedelics induce perceptual experiences that: challenge the paradigmatic assumptions of industrial society by provoking alternative epistemologies and metaphysics; generate expanded or ecological constructions of selfhood, thereby offering resignifications of meanings, desires, and life potentials; and offer the enriched phenomenological insight into self, other, and world called for in combating ubiquitous social alienation. In this way, psychedelics may induce the revolution in perception necessary to imagine liberatory potentials and spark the desire for collective emancipation.

The unconscious and the transcendental: Husserlian phenomenology in intersubjective systems theory

The relational turn in psychoanalysis can be identified by the replacement of Freudian drives for intersubjectivity as main regulative principle. “Intersubjective systems theory” is the name of one strand within the relational turn that explicitly locates its philosophical foundations in a number of phenomenological insights. In this paper, I investigate some of the essential phenomenological assumptions underlying intersubjective systems theory. I identify 2 main problems: 1. intersubjective systems theory relies on the premise that meaning is intersubjectively constituted, yet fails to offer an account of this constitution; 2. intersubjective systems theory is based on an ambiguous conception of the unconscious. The aim of this paper is to show how Husserlian phenomenology offers a valuable theoretical foundation for intersubjective systems theory in the sense that it presents a convincing account of the intersubjective constitution of meaning that in its very constitution allows for a dynamic and situational relation between consciousness and unconsciousness.

Neuropsychological assessment methodology revisited: metatheoretical reflections.

Theory building in neuropsychology, similar to other disciplines, rests on metatheoretical assumptions of philosophical origin. Such assumptions regarding the relation of psychological and physiological variables influence research methodologies as well as assessment strategies in fields of application. Here, we revisit the classic procedure of Double Dissociation (DD) to illustrate the connection of metatheory and methodology. In a seemingly unbridgeable opposition, the classical neuropsychological procedure of DD can be understood as either presupposing localizationism and a modular view of the brain, or as a special case of the generalized neuro-lens model for neuropsychological assessment. In the latter case, it is more easily compatible with a perspective that emphasizes the systemic-network, rather than the modular, nature of the brain, which as part of the organism, proportionately mediates the situatedness of the human being in the world. This perspective not only makes it possible to structure ecological validation processes and give them a metatheoretical foundation, but also to interlace it with the phenomenological insight that the laboratory as one context of empirical research may be analyzed in terms of situated experience. We conclude with showing that both the localizationist and the system science approach can agree on a view of the brain as a dynamical network, and that metatheory may thus offer important new perspectives of reconciliation.

William Wordsworth’ün The Prelude’unda Eko-felsefi ve Fenomenolojik Bir Yolculuk

The present paper analyses William Wordsworth’s The Prelude form an eco-philosophical perspective, which suggests a harmonical existence of human and nonhuman worlds. The main argument is based on Arne Næss’ “ecosophy” following his deep ecological thoughts and David Bohm’s “undivided wholeness” supporting the intimate interconnectedness of human and Nature. Following this eco-philosophical vision, Wordsworth believes that Nature has an essential place in children’s learning. He even suggests stopping formal education of children and meditating them through the subjective experiences in Nature. This study investigates how Wordsworth reflects a child’s journey of gaining poetic consciousness through his interaction with Nature in his The Prelude. Nature is personified as a mother, a friend and a teacher helping his maturity. As a child and the speaker of his poem, Wordsworth feels freedom and joy while acquiring a great deal of knowledge at every step through different experiences. From this perspective, this study bases its arguments on Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger’s phenomenological insights to comprehend the essence of our “Being” through subjective experiences collected in our “life world”. Wordsworth emphasizes the growing maturity of the child in Nature by conceiving his existence in this perfect universe. The power of intuition and imagination, which preserves Nature in our minds, is also accentuated as the main factor educating and maturing us in time by shaping our ideas and feelings. In parallel with the eco-philosophical and phenomenological thoughts, Wordsworth stresses the truth, pureness, peace, and pleasure accompanied by the solitude in Nature. This paper observes the transformation of a naive child into a wise poet through the eco-philosophical and phenomenological journey in Nature through the power of intuition and imagination in Wordsworth’s The Prelude.

The Particular and the Provincial: Thinking with Dorothy Smith’s Phenomenology

I focus on Smith’s phenomenological insights related to the concepts of “bifurcation” and “consciousness” to explore the persistent tension in her work between particularity and abstraction. For Smith, because marginalized groups’ experiences are excluded from dominant ways of knowing, we must begin inquiry from the embodied activity of everyday life, never from the abstracted categories of accepted knowledge. Smith’s concept of bifurcation is essential to understanding this. When people experience the world as bifurcated, we should ask how that split illuminates the ongoing production of marginality as constituted by historically specific relations of ruling. “Consciousness” is likewise essential for Smith because it reflects her concern with how forms of domination get incorporated. For Smith, consciousness is not “micro” but reflects the temporal organization of social power. Starting from the particular seems “small” but is actually incredibly ambitious: The most shrouded aspects of social power are visible there.

Material characterization of cyanate ester material for structures with high dimensional stability requirements

The degradation temperature, cure kinetics, viscosity, shrinkage, thermal expansion, and the modulus of RS-36-1 (modified epoxy), RS-3C and RS-3 (cyanate esters) are measured to evaluate the dimensional stability of these materials. L-shape carbon fibre-reinforced laminates with these polymer matrices are manufactured using Out-of-Autoclave (OoA) Vacuum Bag Only (VBO) processing and the spring-in angle is measured. Upon heating, cyanate ester resins experience expansion followed by shrinkage, which brings the overall shrinkage close to zero. Their coefficient of thermal expansion is found to be lower in comparison to the epoxy material, showing the lowest amount of spring-in. Finite Element simulation using COMPRO CCA is performed and the results are compared to the measurements performed on L-shape laminates. The methodology described herein shows phenomenological insight on the cyanate ester materials and the possibility to predict the effect of residual stresses during processing of composite parts, demonstrating high dimensional stability of cyanate esters.