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Bodily Basis of the Diverse Modes of the Self

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Abstract

Bodily experiences encompass and underpin all types of experiences of the mind, ranging from pre-reflective to self-reflective, from subjective to intersubjective, and from collectivistic to individualistic. Moreover, the self is shaped into diverse modes of being as a result of different focuses on bodily experiences. This paper describes the experiences of one’s body-as-subject, one’s body-as-object for oneself, and one’s body-as-object for others, as they relate with the self. After theoretical considerations, we take up the experience of wearing clothes as a concrete example. The author’s personal experiences adequately show that clothes portray the complexity and dynamism of the self in its relation to the body.

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Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this article was presented at the symposium of the 17th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Theoretical Psychology. I would like to thank Luca Tateo, Pina Marsico, Mette Jensine Ingerslev Nedergaard, Zack Beckstead, and Jaan Valsiner, with whom I shared the valuable panel discussion.

Funding

This research was financially supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [KAKENHI grant nos. 15H03066, 17H00903].

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Correspondence to Shogo Tanaka.

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Tanaka, S. Bodily Basis of the Diverse Modes of the Self. Hu Arenas 1, 223–230 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-018-0030-x

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