I believe the body is important to the epistemological theory because the body allows you to gain knowledge. Through the body knowledge can be gained by using your senses. Without your body you would not be able to gain the knowledge of how things felt because you would not have arms. You would not be able to see the objects around you without your eyes. The body is just as important as the mind because it allows you to experience knowledge in a different way than your mind can.
I agree with lyndsey about how our body helps us gain knowledge. When we talked about memory it deals with the same thing. You are going to gain knowledge through your embodied knowledge by your sences and experiences. Your eyes,ears,skin, etc all give you knowledge of things that are hot, beautiful, smooth anything and everything come from your embodied knowledge. We would not be able to gain physical and perceptual knowledge without our bodies, we would be blind to the world.
The body is very important to the epistemological theory because without the body how can the thoughts of the mind be put into action? The way that most people learn is by their mistakes. For example, if a baby touches a stove, it will cause extreme pain. The baby will realize this the next time he or she is put into this situation and not do it again for fear of the pain that it will cause.
The body is our tool for researching things. It gives us first hand empirical knowledge of the things we encounter. Our bodies themselves do not know anything they just send information to the brain for processing. The brain however is Dependant on the body and seeks to take care of it. Burning your finger for example does not effect the brain, but since the brain is Dependant on the fingers for the sense of touch the brain looks to protect it by sending the command o pull away.
Without the body how can the thoughts of the mind be put into action? This is a very practical consideration. I agree completely: even the most brilliant of minds needs a physical body to make itself useful. But when it comes to epistemological theory I wonder… is epistemology really even about putting anything into action? It seems like epistemology is primarily concerned with the thinking aspect, not so much the doing aspect. If epistemologists were concerned with doing, or putting anything into action, I don’t think they would spend so much time just thinking. Think in terms of armchair epistemology: If epistemology can really be done “in an armchair”, then the thinker is simply content just thinking about things. Doing is definitely an important outlet for the mind’s thoughts, but I’m not sure it belongs in the realm of epistemology.
Unless the thoughts or knowledge you act upon is a type of knowledge in and of itself. For example, embodied knowledge could be like muscle memory. Things that your body knows and can perform repetitiously without needing to process it or think about it. Like typing on a keyboard when you get really good at it is just a matter of muscle memory. That is a type of knowledge, a physical knowledge. Therefore epistemology would have to acknowledge the importance of the body in such a situation.
In order to use our senses to justify a belief, we have to rely on our bodies. We can see things using vision. We can take things by eating which is embodied because food is our fuel for our bodies. Touch would really not be a possibility for justifying a belief if we were disembodied. So without our bodies, we wouldn't have all avenues of acquiring knowledge. I guess armchairs philosophers may challenge this as they can just sit and reason things out without having to rely on many of their sense.
Hannah is right in that it may be true that some epistemologists are content with just sitting around thinking thoughts about knowledge. And they may not concern themselves with ever actually acting on this knowledge in other ways besides more thinking. However, the idea of embodiment requires that we rethink the concepts of body and mind, their relation and significance. That is, we are not simply thinking about the body’s relation to the mind in terms of old Cartesian notions of body and mind. We must rethink the body and mind which has implications for cognitive subjects and embodied philosophers start by dissolving false dichotomies or dualistic thinking. For example: To speak about the mind if it where this purely autonomous thinking thing, immaterial and separate from the body, which is this acting thing that physically implements the thoughts purports a kind of Cartesian dualism. It is true that the body is primarily action and an implementer of action. But I would argue that in the embodied sense the mind and thinking is also a kind of action. It’s a result of the processes of your cognitive system which is your whole body and your whole body is an action towards the environment. This is why it is ridiculous to try and reduce the mind to the brain. In this sense consciousness is something that arises from the interactions with our surroundings: Consciousness is not something that happens inside us. It is something we do or make. The nature of the human mind is largely determined by the form of the human body. All aspects of cognition, such as ideas, thoughts, concepts and categories are shaped by aspects of the body such as our sensory/motor systems and the processes of our sensory/motor systems are inseparable from the world.
I believe that the body is important to the epistemological theory because of the body's intricate parts, such as the brain, etc. We must rely on our bodies(brain) to know if our perceptions are reliable in telling us how one can know whether knowledge of any kind is possible- or what kind of knowledge is possible, or whether human knowledge is innate or whether it is acquired through experience or whether knowledge is purely just a mental state. We are able to gain empirical knowledge by using our body's to help us perceive things.
I think the body is important to epistemological theories. We gain knowledge through our senses. Therefore, our body is allowing us to gain certain knowledge through these perceptions. As lyndsey said, your body allows you to gain knowledge your mind wouldn't. For instance, taste- you wouldn't be able to taste things without a body, touch- you wouldn't know if something was hot, cold, sticky, or wet without a body.
The body is important to interact with the world around us but I think the mind can exist without it...just not happily. I read a story recently about a man that had been in a coma for 12 years. A doctor that was study comatose patients investigated this patient only to find that though he was 99.9% paralyzed, he was still experiencing conscious thought. (The doctor measured brain waves and noticed activity and eventually figured out that the man could move one of his pinkies ever so slightly). Once they figured out a way to translate his pinky movements, the man was able to communicate. He expressed his utter relief at finally being able to communicate, explained that he had always been completely aware of everything around him and described how he would meditate within his own mind to keep from going crazy.
I think the body is an important part of epistemological theory because it encapsulates the brain. Are we able to think without a brain? I don't think we are able to think or fuction without our brain. The brain controls many of the systems in our body that we need to sustain everyday functioning and life. Therefore, in order to have epistemological functioning and knowledge we must have a body and a brain to support it.
I believe the body is important to the epistemological theory because the body allows you to gain knowledge. Through the body knowledge can be gained by using your senses. Without your body you would not be able to gain the knowledge of how things felt because you would not have arms. You would not be able to see the objects around you without your eyes. The body is just as important as the mind because it allows you to experience knowledge in a different way than your mind can.
ReplyDeleteI agree with lyndsey about how our body helps us gain knowledge. When we talked about memory it deals with the same thing. You are going to gain knowledge through your embodied knowledge by your sences and experiences. Your eyes,ears,skin, etc all give you knowledge of things that are hot, beautiful, smooth anything and everything come from your embodied knowledge. We would not be able to gain physical and perceptual knowledge without our bodies, we would be blind to the world.
ReplyDeleteThe body is very important to the epistemological theory because without the body how can the thoughts of the mind be put into action? The way that most people learn is by their mistakes. For example, if a baby touches a stove, it will cause extreme pain. The baby will realize this the next time he or she is put into this situation and not do it again for fear of the pain that it will cause.
ReplyDeleteThe body is our tool for researching things. It gives us first hand empirical knowledge of the things we encounter. Our bodies themselves do not know anything they just send information to the brain for processing. The brain however is Dependant on the body and seeks to take care of it. Burning your finger for example does not effect the brain, but since the brain is Dependant on the fingers for the sense of touch the brain looks to protect it by sending the command o pull away.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWithout the body how can the thoughts of the mind be put into action?
ReplyDeleteThis is a very practical consideration. I agree completely: even the most brilliant of minds needs a physical body to make itself useful. But when it comes to epistemological theory I wonder… is epistemology really even about putting anything into action? It seems like epistemology is primarily concerned with the thinking aspect, not so much the doing aspect. If epistemologists were concerned with doing, or putting anything into action, I don’t think they would spend so much time just thinking. Think in terms of armchair epistemology: If epistemology can really be done “in an armchair”, then the thinker is simply content just thinking about things. Doing is definitely an important outlet for the mind’s thoughts, but I’m not sure it belongs in the realm of epistemology.
Unless the thoughts or knowledge you act upon is a type of knowledge in and of itself. For example, embodied knowledge could be like muscle memory. Things that your body knows and can perform repetitiously without needing to process it or think about it. Like typing on a keyboard when you get really good at it is just a matter of muscle memory. That is a type of knowledge, a physical knowledge. Therefore epistemology would have to acknowledge the importance of the body in such a situation.
In order to use our senses to justify a belief, we have to rely on our bodies. We can see things using vision. We can take things by eating which is embodied because food is our fuel for our bodies. Touch would really not be a possibility for justifying a belief if we were disembodied. So without our bodies, we wouldn't have all avenues of acquiring knowledge. I guess armchairs philosophers may challenge this as they can just sit and reason things out without having to rely on many of their sense.
ReplyDeleteHannah is right in that it may be true that some epistemologists are content with just sitting around thinking thoughts about knowledge. And they may not concern themselves with ever actually acting on this knowledge in other ways besides more thinking. However, the idea of embodiment requires that we rethink the concepts of body and mind, their relation and significance. That is, we are not simply thinking about the body’s relation to the mind in terms of old Cartesian notions of body and mind. We must rethink the body and mind which has implications for cognitive subjects and embodied philosophers start by dissolving false dichotomies or dualistic thinking.
ReplyDeleteFor example: To speak about the mind if it where this purely autonomous thinking thing, immaterial and separate from the body, which is this acting thing that physically implements the thoughts purports a kind of Cartesian dualism. It is true that the body is primarily action and an implementer of action. But I would argue that in the embodied sense the mind and thinking is also a kind of action. It’s a result of the processes of your cognitive system which is your whole body and your whole body is an action towards the environment. This is why it is ridiculous to try and reduce the mind to the brain. In this sense consciousness is something that arises from the interactions with our surroundings: Consciousness is not something that happens inside us. It is something we do or make. The nature of the human mind is largely determined by the form of the human body. All aspects of cognition, such as ideas, thoughts, concepts and categories are shaped by aspects of the body such as our sensory/motor systems and the processes of our sensory/motor systems are inseparable from the world.
I believe that the body is important to the epistemological theory because of the body's intricate parts, such as the brain, etc. We must rely on our bodies(brain) to know if our perceptions are reliable in telling us how one can know whether knowledge of any kind is possible- or what kind of knowledge is possible, or whether human knowledge is innate or whether it is acquired through experience or whether knowledge is purely just a mental state. We are able to gain empirical knowledge by using our body's to help us perceive things.
ReplyDeleteI think the body is important to epistemological theories. We gain knowledge through our senses. Therefore, our body is allowing us to gain certain knowledge through these perceptions. As lyndsey said, your body allows you to gain knowledge your mind wouldn't. For instance, taste- you wouldn't be able to taste things without a body, touch- you wouldn't know if something was hot, cold, sticky, or wet without a body.
ReplyDeleteThe body is important to interact with the world around us but I think the mind can exist without it...just not happily. I read a story recently about a man that had been in a coma for 12 years. A doctor that was study comatose patients investigated this patient only to find that though he was 99.9% paralyzed, he was still experiencing conscious thought. (The doctor measured brain waves and noticed activity and eventually figured out that the man could move one of his pinkies ever so slightly). Once they figured out a way to translate his pinky movements, the man was able to communicate. He expressed his utter relief at finally being able to communicate, explained that he had always been completely aware of everything around him and described how he would meditate within his own mind to keep from going crazy.
ReplyDeleteI think the body is an important part of epistemological theory because it encapsulates the brain. Are we able to think without a brain? I don't think we are able to think or fuction without our brain. The brain controls many of the systems in our body that we need to sustain everyday functioning and life. Therefore, in order to have epistemological functioning and knowledge we must have a body and a brain to support it.
ReplyDelete