This thesis investigates the canonical, western philosophical way of thinking about human origin. It claims that this traditional understanding of origin is focussed on birth: a moment that a new...Show moreThis thesis investigates the canonical, western philosophical way of thinking about human origin. It claims that this traditional understanding of origin is focussed on birth: a moment that a new person originates from the darkness, into the light. This instigates an image of human origin as one of separation, an image that is contradicted by the phenomenological acounts of the people that have actually enjoyed or endured this process of human origination in the midst of their very own bodies: pregnant women. Their accounts paint a very different picture of the start of human life. This thesis investigates this structurally overlooked perspective on origin, and will answer the question as to what and in which way the traditional, canonical philosophical realm benefits in accuracy and richness from a serious consideration of the phenomenological experience of pregnancy. Ultimately, we move from an understanding of human origin as a clearly defined moment of separation, to a continuum of becoming, marked by an ambiguous relationality.Show less
Research master thesis | Arts and Culture (research) (MA)
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Neoliberalism has altered the way in which the subject consumes and subsequently reflects upon media. A popular media genre on the internet nowadays is instruction videos, which can be consumed for...Show moreNeoliberalism has altered the way in which the subject consumes and subsequently reflects upon media. A popular media genre on the internet nowadays is instruction videos, which can be consumed for various reasons, but usually rely on the notion of conveying to the viewer a certain set of skills. Since these media are therefore consumed for a specific purpose intended, the viewer already pre-establishes a certain attitude and understanding, and furthermore gains a reflective understanding of this phenomenon itself. This thesis aims to reconsider the notion of spectatorship through a lens of phenomenology, in order to reevaluate the idea of a spectator's own understanding of their experience of a medium, which this thesis names "cognitive spectatorship," and shows how the genre of instruction videos and this new viewing attitude play into the Neoliberal ideology.Show less
In the last two to three decades, throughout the world, urban and architectural spaces have been losing their identities over cities, driven mainly by commercial and economic interests....Show moreIn the last two to three decades, throughout the world, urban and architectural spaces have been losing their identities over cities, driven mainly by commercial and economic interests. Nevertheless, a number of artists have been escaping from their own traditional sphere of activity and exploring questions about space, the main tool of architects. These artists have been creating innovative hybrid works of art-and-architecture that highlight the singularity of places. Furthermore, they have also been focusing on the spectator’s bodily experiences using a phenomenological approach on their artworks. Recognizing these issues, this research opens discussions on how the adoption of phenomenological aspects in the creative process of art-and-architecture can contribute to an embodied experience through the artist Olafur Eliasson’s constructed work Fjordenhus (2018), in Vejle, Denmark, in partnership with the architect Sebastian Behmann. The main argument is that works embedded in a phenomenological bias can serve as a tool for resuscitation and vitality of architectural spaces in a relationship between architecture, space, and body. This study aims to contribute to the recent debates, concerning the tenuous limit of the interdisciplinary fields of visual art and architecture, with the participation of an artist in the conceptual process of an architectural project.Show less
There is increasing awareness of the importance of the body in psychology and philosophy of mind. Embodied accounts of the self are promising in explaining the perceived unity and continuity...Show moreThere is increasing awareness of the importance of the body in psychology and philosophy of mind. Embodied accounts of the self are promising in explaining the perceived unity and continuity characteristic of it: the body provides spatiotemporal locatedness, and embodied experience provides relationships to and interaction with the environment. Given this emphasis on the body, it is surprising to find a lack of consideration of how the embodied self persists through time: as a three-dimensional entity, or rather as a four-dimensional one with temporal parts as well as spatial parts? Conversely, in discussions on persistence over time, a purely mental approach is dominant. I set out to detail the metaphysical debate on persistence, how it is typically applied to persons, and develop a novel account merging various influential lines of thought. The result is an embodied self as a perduring, bio-processual entity.Show less
This thesis discusses the thinking on time by Husserl and Heidegger. Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit and Husserl’s Vorlesungen are the two main sources of study. Husserl’s primary purpose with...Show moreThis thesis discusses the thinking on time by Husserl and Heidegger. Heidegger’s Sein und Zeit and Husserl’s Vorlesungen are the two main sources of study. Husserl’s primary purpose with Vorlesungen is to deliver a phenomenological analysis of the consciousness of time. The preliminary goal that Heidegger sets for himself in Sein und Zeit is to provide an interpretation of time as a possible horizon of Dasein. The main question of this thesis is: What role does the concept of ‘horizon’ play in Seit und Zeit by Heidegger and in Vorlesungen zur Phänomenologie des inneren Zeitbewusstseins by Husserl, and how do these concepts relate to one another? Over the past decades, a number of comparative studies on Husserl’s and Heidegger’s concepts of time have appeared, many of which argue that Husserl’s Vorlesungen strongly depend on a metaphysical thinking on time. Heidegger too is critical towards Husserl, directly or indirectly, due to the fact that to his judgement, Husserl reduces all experience to transcendental subjectivity, which results in everything being present to the subject. The purpose of this thesis, however, is to demonstrate that with Husserl as much as with Heidegger, we can speak of an ontology of time. This is clarified, amongst other things, using Husserl’s concept of ‘horizon’. The horizon concept that Husserl uses, appears to be merely empirical and ontic, as opposed to Heidegger’s existential-ontological horizon concept. Yet this thesis demonstrates that Husserl’s horizon does in fact have ontological attributes. To conclude so appears to be a small contribution to existing studies on Husserl and Heidegger, yet it certainly has consequences for an accurate interpretation and comparison of time concepts by Husserl and Heidegger. Even though the ontological character of time with Husserl is not thematic, it can certainly be found in Vorlesungen and therefore cannot be ignored. As a result, Husserl’s ideas can no longer be considered exclusively metaphysical.Show less
The thesis argues that the concept of landscape fails to do justice to the experience of it. Through an analysis of the concept and of its origins, it locates the presuppositions of the concept in...Show moreThe thesis argues that the concept of landscape fails to do justice to the experience of it. Through an analysis of the concept and of its origins, it locates the presuppositions of the concept in its understanding of self and world. A phenomenological approach reveals that current understanding of landscape perpetuates the distinction of subject and object, disabling the experience of being in a landscape. Drawing on the later works of Husserl and Heidegger, the concluding chapters works towards an understanding of landscape as awareness of earth.Show less
In the western philosophical tradition, the notion of ‘freedom’ has been approached as a ‘concept’. A concept is a philosophical tool to establish a definite representation of the addressed notion....Show moreIn the western philosophical tradition, the notion of ‘freedom’ has been approached as a ‘concept’. A concept is a philosophical tool to establish a definite representation of the addressed notion. In this sense, the conceptual approach to freedom has, in the modern era, led to the formulation of two dominant concepts of freedom, i.e. positive and negative concept of freedom. The conceptual approach to freedom holds sway over the current legal, political, sociological, and philosophical debates. This methodological study puts the adequacy of this approach into question. As such, the main task of this research is to articulate a complex method, whereby one could rethink the notion of ‘freedom’ from the standpoint of the other. This method of inquiry will be cultivated, through the exploration and examination of Heidegger’s phenomenological method, Wittgenstein’s account of linguistic meaning and Castoriadis’s social-historical approach. The dialogical composition of these three perspectives enables us to give birth to a new complex method, by which one could investigate the notion of ‘freedom’ from the standpoint of the other.Show less
In his later work Heidegger introduces a mirror play of four spheres, something which in the first instance seems enigmatic and incomprehensible. This design, what he calls the Geviert (Fourfold),...Show moreIn his later work Heidegger introduces a mirror play of four spheres, something which in the first instance seems enigmatic and incomprehensible. This design, what he calls the Geviert (Fourfold), seems to appear out of nowhere. But on second thoughts it becomes clear that it is a continuation of his earlier work, and it is an answer to the problems of the European thinking. The main question of my study: ‘What includes Heideggers Geviert?’ The thesis consists of four chapters. The first focuses on the conception of the design of the Geviert in Heideggers earlier works, such as Sein und Zeit and Urpsprung des Kunstwerkes. The second one talks about two spheres, the earth and the sky. The third one focuses on the other two spheres, the mortal and the godlike. The fourth chapter treats the relationship and the dynamic between the four spheres. One of the insights is that each sphere contains the dynamic of Heraclit’ phusis-concept. Herewith Heidegger harks back to the origin of the Western thought to address to problems that have sprung into this thinking at the root.Show less
