Self-transformation: Body, Mind, and Spirit
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11575/jah.v0i0.53301Keywords:
hermeneutics, philosophy, philosophy as a way of life, phenomenology, transcendentalismAbstract
In this paper, I explore a conception of self-transformation that attempts to provide a holistic account covering a range of body, mind, and spirit. I draw upon Kym Maclaren’s exploration of the role of the body inspired by the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (body); the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer (mind [language]); and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s transcendentalism (spirit). I present the case that each of these approaches develops important aspects of self-transformation and can be seen as complementary. I explore this in relation to philosophy as a practical activity, drawing upon Pierre Hadot’s perspective of philosophy as a way of life.
References
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Gadamer, H-G. (1977/1986). The relevance of the beautiful. In R. Bernasoni (Ed.), The relevance of the beautiful and other essays (N. Walker, Trans., pp. 3-53). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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MacLaren, K. (2009). Emotional metamorphoses: The role of others in becoming a subject. In S. Campbell, L. Meynell, & S. Sherwin (Eds.), Embodiment and agency (pp. 25-45). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
MacLaren, K. (2011). Emotional clichés and authentic passions: A phenomenological revision of a cognitive theory of emotion. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences(10), 45-65.
Thoreau, H.D. (1854/2004). Walden and other writings. (J. W. Krutch, Ed.) New York, NY: Bantam Dell.
Dostal, R. (2010). Gadamer's Platonism: His recovery of mimesis and anamnesis. In J. Malpas, & S. Zabala (Eds.), The consequences of hermeneutics: Fifty years after Gadamer's truth and method (pp. 45-65). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
Emerson, R.W. (1983). Emerson: Essays and lectures (J. Porte, Ed.). New York, NY: Library of America.
Gadamer, H-G. (1931/1991). Plato's dialectical ethics: Phenomenological interpretations relating to the Philebus. (R. M. Wallace, Trans.) New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Gadamer, H-G. (1960/1989). Truth and method (2nd. rev. ed.). (J. Weinsheimer, & D. G. Marshall, Trans.) London, UK: Sheed and Ward.
Gadamer, H-G. (1977/1986). The relevance of the beautiful. In R. Bernasoni (Ed.), The relevance of the beautiful and other essays (N. Walker, Trans., pp. 3-53). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Hadot, P. (1995). Philosophy as a way of life: Spiritual exercises from Socrates to Foucault. (M. Chase, Trans.) Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Lit.
Hadot, P. (1995/2004). What is ancient philosophy?(M. Chase, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
James, W. (1897/1956). Great men and their environment. In W. James, The will to believe and other essays in popular philsophy and human immortality both books bound as one (pp. 216-254). New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
Kidder, P. (1995, Spring). Gadamer and the Platonic eidos. Philosophy Today, 39(1), 83-92.
MacLaren, K. (2009). Emotional metamorphoses: The role of others in becoming a subject. In S. Campbell, L. Meynell, & S. Sherwin (Eds.), Embodiment and agency (pp. 25-45). University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
MacLaren, K. (2011). Emotional clichés and authentic passions: A phenomenological revision of a cognitive theory of emotion. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences(10), 45-65.
Thoreau, H.D. (1854/2004). Walden and other writings. (J. W. Krutch, Ed.) New York, NY: Bantam Dell.
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2017-10-21
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