Zoomimesis: Embodied Epiphany

Abstract

There is a particular way to think of ourselves as human beings, which consists in denying our phylogenetic condition and sublimating our being inevitably circumscribed within a taxonomic perimeter. The human being must counterfeit itself in order to feel its humanity: it has to modify its skin, change some of its anatomic details, gain a kinaesthetic sense that does not belong to it, transfiguring survival strategies and altering the way it uses its voice. Anthropopoiesis , as a kind of metamorphosis that takes the human being outside its species-specific shell, is an act of denial of our biological condition rather than an attempt at compensation. In fact, what kind of compensation can there be in music, dance and cosmetics? None, of course. There is only the need to transcend our dimension. Being human means dreaming to be elsewhere, distancing ourselves from our nature. This, different from what Plessner thought, as it does not originate from Plessner’s doubling, but from being reflected on a therianthropic level: only an epiphanic projection onto otherness can allow for reflection. Decentralization is like passively letting the other take us by the hand and lead us, which is very different from firmly holding the reins of our own path.