Watsuji’s Phenomenology of Embodiment and Social Space
Krueger, Joel
Date: 2013
Publisher
University of Hawai'i Press
Publisher DOI
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Abstract
The aim of this essay is to situate the thought of Tetsurō Watsuji within contemporary
approaches to social cognition. I argue for Watsuji’s current relevance, suggesting
that his analysis of embodiment and social space puts him in step with some of the
concerns driving ongoing treatments of social cognition in philosophy of mind ...
The aim of this essay is to situate the thought of Tetsurō Watsuji within contemporary
approaches to social cognition. I argue for Watsuji’s current relevance, suggesting
that his analysis of embodiment and social space puts him in step with some of the
concerns driving ongoing treatments of social cognition in philosophy of mind and
cognitive science. Yet, as I will show, Watsuji can potentially offer a fruitful contribution
to this discussion by lending a phenomenologically informed critical perspective.
This is because Watsuji challenges the internalist and cognitivist presuppositions
informing the currently dominant “Theory of Mind” paradigm that is driving much
social cognition research. Additionally, I show that Watsuji’s alternative model is not
merely confined to the realm of phenomenological description but that it also receives
robust empirical support from a number of different sources. I thus hope to
open up aspects of Watsuji’s thinking that have yet to be fully appreciated.
Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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