gendlin
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Gendlin, E.T. (1992). The primacy of the body, not the primacy of perception [Excerpt
from pages !"#, slightly re$ised%. Man and World, 25("!), !1"#. &rom
http'.foc*sing.orggendlindocsgol+212.html
The primacy of the body, not theprimacy of perception:
How the body knows the situation and
philosophy
E. T. Gendlin
-ni$ersity of hicago
The primacy of perception leads to a traditional problem. /erception inherently in$ol$esa dat*m, clear or *nclear, something that exists for someone, happens to someone, or is
present before someone. /erception remains a being"for. 0f one begins ith perception,
then interaction seems to consist of to indi$id*al percepts.
The percept is a ind of di$iding screen. That is not an error. The di$iding"screen lies in
the $ery nat*re of perception. There is an error only in starting ith perception.
/erception is a dat*m"ha$ing. o it cannot be the basic form of life. The plant is an
interaction directly ith its en$ironment, itho*t a percept*al dat*m in front of itself 0ts
body does not first exist and only then interact. 3ather, its groth and life"processes
consist of en$ironmental interaction. 4nd o*r bodies also consist of s*ch en$ironmental
interaction processes. That ind of interaction is s*rely prior to the ha$ing of presented
percept*al data.
5hen philosophy considers perception it cannot help b*t consider a percept, something
presented, an ob6ect constit*ted between the body and the en$ironment. 7f co*rse one
nos that percepts do not exist alone8 they pre"s*ppose a body8 they do not float alone,
first. *t if one begins by considering perception, the percept p*ts itself first and di$ides
the percei$er off, p*ts the percei$er behind the percept, and renders the body as merely
a percei$er.
0 o*ld lie to bring home ho odd this common ay of proceeding really is. 4 perceptact*ally exists only as a presented before, or a coming into, a coming at. 0t exists only
for someone. 4nd yet it presents itself as if it ere a thing that exists. The percept is
lopped off:lops itself off:as if it co*ld be a thing on its on, e$en hile one f*lly
nos that it isn;t. That is in the $ery nat*re of perception, something presented,
something happening"to"someone.
/erception di$ides the someone off, as coming second, *nderstood only bacard from
hat is already a percept. 7nce the percept is taen as hat it seems to be, then the
percei$er cannot add m*ch. Traditionally the percei$er added nearly nothing, 6*st the
ha$ing"of, the conscio*sness"of, 6*st the percei$er of"the"percept, the transparent
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The scientific constr*ction of the *ni$erse consists of percepts and percept"lie patterns
presented before *s. 0t renders h*mans and animals as something presented in a space
before *s (or before someone). *t e are not the presented8 e are the to"hom of the
presented. The to"hom that is inherent in anything presented cannot be a presented
dat*m. o e h*mans cannot find o*rsel$es ithin the scientific pict*re, since it
consists of presenteds. 5e seem to be only the percei$ers"of or constr*ctors"of the pict*re, as if e ere o*tside the *ni$erse, the percei$er ho does not appear in the
percept.
To begin philosophy by considering perception maes it seem that li$ing things can
contact reality only thro*gh perception. *t plants are in contact ith reality. They are
interactions, =*ite itho*t perception. 7*r on li$ing bodies also are interactions ith
their en$ironments, and that is not lost 6*st beca*se o*rs also ha$e perception. 7n the
contrary, for *s that f*nctions in many additional ays. 4nimal bodies:incl*ding o*rs
:sense themsel$es, and thereby e sense the interactional li$ing e are. 0n sensing
themsel$es, o*r bodies sense o*r physical en$ironment and o*r h*man sit*ations. The
perception of colors, smells, and so*nds is only a small part of this.
7*r bodies sense themsel$es in li$ing in o*r sit*ations. 7*r bodies do o*r li$ing. 7*r
bodies are infraction in the en$ironment8 they interact as bodies, not 6*st thro*gh hat
comes ith the fi$e senses. 7*r bodies don;t l*r in isolation behind the fi$e peepholes
of perception.
5hat the ord
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not the fi$e senses, b*t the sentient bodily interaction that taes on lang*age and history
:and then alays still exceeds them. >et me sho this'
?erlea*"/onty says that e sense the space behind o*r bacs. /lease notice for a
moment that this is tr*e8 yo* can sense the space behind yo*r bac.
0s that still to be called
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bodily sense separate from the sit*ation and merely internal. 0t is certainly not 6*st an
emotional reaction to the danger. 0t is that, b*t it also incl*des more of the intricacy of
yo*r sit*ation than yo* can see or thin. Ao*r bodily ... is yo*r sit*ation. 0t is not a
percei$ed ob6ect before yo* or e$en behind yo*. The body"sense is the sit*ation,
inherently an interaction, not a mix of to things.
o*ld one arg*e that the ... is merely indeterminate? I arg*e that s*ch a ... is not at all
indeterminate. 3ather, it is more determinate than anything that is already formed. Ao*
can see this beca*se the next mo$e, hen it comes, ill ha$e taen acco*nt of more
than anything formed can bring. Ao* can see that this bodily f*nction is more than 6*st
the contradictory alternati$es. 0f only they ere there, they co*ld not be together:they
o*ld cancel each other o*t. *t yo*r body can ha$e them together, and hat is more,
has them eighed and interrelated as possible next mo$es. 0f yo* fight, there are too
many of them8 if yo* sho*t yo* might be attaced immediately8 if yo* r*n, so ill they8
if yo* enter a b*ilding, they ill come in after yo*8 if yo* .... Ao* don;t ha$e time to
thin each of the possible mo$es separately, b*t they are implicitly at or in yo*r
bodily sensed ... hich f*nctions to determine yo*r act*al mo$e.
The
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&rom contradictory forms alone one co*ld only get indeterminacy. *t the animal body
f*nctions also after and ith all the h*man elaborations. 0t li$es the alternati$es f*rther
and can shape something ne. 5hen at last yo* mae yo*r mo$e, it may ell be
something yo* ne$er heard of
4n artist stands before an *nfinished pict*re, pondering it, seeing, feeling, bodilysensing it, ha$ing a .... *ppose the artist;s ... is one of some dissatisfaction. 0s that an
emotional reaction, simply a feeling"tone@ Bo indeed. 0mplicit in the ... is the artist;s
training, experience ith many designs, and m*ch else. *t more' the ... is also the
implying of the next line, hich has not yet come. The artist ponders i$ing bodies imply their on next steps. This
implying and shaping of next steps is *s*ally attrib*ted only to repetitio*s processes.
*t e see that the body also taes on the elaborations of =*ite no$el sit*ations, and
then it also implies a next step, and may shape one.
The li$ing body is an ongoing interaction ith its en$ironment8 of co*rse it therefore is
en$ironmental information. The bodily ... can contain information that is not (or not yet)
capable of being phrased. *t can e concei$e of the body so that e co*ld *nderstand
ho it can contain (or be) information@ 0t is not the *s*al *se of the ord
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o is it that the bodily ... has all this information, more than e can thin item by
item, and is also capable of s*ch finely t*ned no$elty@ 4ccording to the *s*al
conception of the physiological body, it co*ld not do any of that. ince it can, let *s try
to thin of a li$ing body in s*ch a ay that it co*ld be information and no$elty.
0f e thin of the li$ing body:not as a piece of merely percei$EF machinery, nor as percei$ing, b*t as interaction ith its en$ironment, then of co*rse, the body 0
en$ironmental information.
4nimals bodies are complex interactions ith their en$ironments. &rom one ancient
bone one can reconstr*ct not only the hole animal, b*t from its body also the ind of
en$ironment in hich it li$ed. &rom the ind of feet it had one can infer the ind of
gro*nd on hich it mo$ed. &rom its stomach ca$ity one can no hat it fed on and
chased. The body e$en as a dead str*ct*re still contains all that implicit information
abo*t its en$ironment. 5hen ali$e, its bodily life"process is m*ch more implicit
information. 4nd this bodily sentience implies and generates the animal;s next mo$e.
?*ch more arri$es at birth than a blan tablet. The body arri$es already implying its
en$ironment $ery intricately. The h*man infant implies the breast and the mother.
(tem, 19#) /erceptions enter into an already intricate implied en$ironment in hich
the fi$e senses are already related. 0nfants come ith good mothering already implicit,
interpersonal comm*nication already ongoing, the complexity of syntax already in
place. They need not first be made from perceptions.
7f co*rse e do not no ha$e the body 6*st as it existed before and without lang*age.
*t that first body still f*nctions no. 4fter and ith lang*age it implies and mo$es
beyond lang*age.
Ao*r body before lang*age contin*es to li$e also beyond lang*age no, as yo* listen to
me. 5hile yo* hear my ords, yo* are not thining yo*r on ords. Be$ertheless yo*r
li$e body retains ho yo* are, yo*r past and all yo* no. 5hat 0 say comes into all of
that.
0f e *nderstand the body as en$ironmental interaction e need not limit o*rsel$es to
sentient animals. /lants, =*ite itho*t perception are bodily ongoing life processes.
They also imply their on next mo$es.
0n saying this of plants 0 am *sing this conception of o*r interactional body to de$elop aconception of li$ing bodies that co*ld e$ol$e into o*rs. &or a form*lated philosophical
treatment of this ith ne terms, see 4 /rocess ?odel.
Going no the other ay, this conception of li$ing bodies:e$en plants:o*ld explain
hy, if s*ch a body sensed itself, that body"sense o*ld be a $ast amo*nt of
en$ironmental information:and hy, if it li$ed this information forard f*rther, it
co*ld mo$e in ne ays. 4nd then, if s*ch a self"sensing body co*ld also think, and
co*ld *se its bodily ... in its thining, ell, it o*ld alays thin after, with, but with
more than concept*al and lang*age forms. This more o*ld be realistic since it o*ld
be the body"en$ironmental interaction.
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4ll thining in$ol$es the bodily ... to some degree. Tae for example any ordinary
sentence. 0n the middle of it yo* ha$e an *nfinished sense of ho ... Ao* don;t no the
end, and yet, all thro*gh it, as the sentence ends its ay ....
0t has seemed, recently, that there is no lang*age in hich to disc*ss hat is more than
lang*age. ince e find that still f*nctioning all the hile e tal, of co*rse it f*nctionsalso to let me tal abo*t its f*nctioning.
4nd it is also ith s*ch a ... that e thin. 5e pose o*rsel$es some problem or some
chain of tho*ght. There is this, and that, that other, and then 0f e get distracted and lose
hold of the .... e go o$er the familiar gro*nd. This, and that, and that other, and ah ....
That is here ne thining happens.
*t it isn;t a grand mystery. 5e m*st thin ith a ... in many sit*ations e$ery day. E$en
if the sit*ation is only slightly tro*bling, it gi$es *s pa*se. 5e no the ro*tine things
e can say and do, b*t .... o the body is being the sit*ation is more than e can thin
in concepts or ords. o e better thin ith the .... thin ith the ay the body has,li$es in, is:the sit*ation.
o it is not the case that yo* ha$e only yo*r perceptions of me, that o*r perceptions of
each other are beteen *s. 3ather, e affect each other, bodily and sit*ationally,
hether e sense or see it or not. ?y armth or hostility ill affect yo*r ongoing
bodily being hether yo* percei$e it or not. Ao* may find it there, if yo* sense ho
yo*r body has the sit*ation.
The bodily ... is realistic. 0t is the interaction, and since the interaction is already
happening, of co*rse it is a possible interaction in the orld. o, of co*rse e can learn
something abo*t reality from it. The ... is alays realistically an interaction and
therefore right abo*t something. 4s therapy shos, it can be chiefly (ne$er entirely) a
past sit*ation. 0t can be realistic also abo*t something that it nely li$es and maes,
something that has ne$er been done before. o e *nderstand ho the body can thin
beyond anything e$er form*lated before:ho it senses on the edge of h*man thining.
That is hy 0 enco*rage my st*dents to attend $ery caref*lly to any sense of excitement,
p*DDlement, conf*sion or *nclear *n"ease, that might come as they read and thin. 5hat
a h*man organism registers is ne$er 6*st nothing, ne$er an indeterminate limbo. 4t first
it seems to be 6*st a*tistic. *t the body is alays already interaction8 it cannot fail to
contain implicit information ith and from hich e can thin. 4ny h*man hoattends to a ... thins on the edge of h*man noledge. 0t does also re=*ire some
concept*al and philosophical sills hich 0 cannot go into, here. 7ne needs at least to
be familiar ith many theoretical strategies and many traditional mo$es, so as not 6*st
to fall into one ith no reco*rse.
>aying something o*t in distinct parts changes it. >aying it o*t can ill it, b*t not if e
eep the hole ... ith *s as e thin. Then laying o*t can carry the ... f*rther, change it
in a ay that lets it de$elop. 5hen e thin f*rther in this ay, e can also find and
correct errors. &rom a ... there are more"than"logical criteria that let *s no hich
mo$e carries forard, hich line satisfies the design that is not yet. 5e can tell hen
laying a ... o*t
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5e sense hat contin*es o*r plant and animal life, and hat does not. 5e sense hat
next mo$e is st*ltifying, too comfortable, g*iltily a$oidant. 5e can sense hen hat e
thin is gl*ed together, internally closed so that e cannot enter. 5e no hen e
ha$e o$en a thin bridge of s*perficial logic o$er a problem that still remains.
These internal criteria of carrying forard a bodily ... do not ins*re against error, b*tthey do sho that there is error:and therefore also tr*th:in thining ith more than
form.
.2 "he order
>et *s begin ith the body as e 6*st re"concei$ed it, instead of the traditional order
hich begins ith perception, adds relations or interactions, and then lang*age and
tho*ght. 0 deny that old order. &or example, /eirce called sensations ;Hfirstness.< They
are ass*med to be opa#ue like bits of color, smell, or to*ch. They are 6*st hat they are.
Examine them as deeply as yo* might, in color there is 6*st color. 0 deny that this is
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sense that it is internally intricate. 0t in$ol$es yo*r noledge of philosophy and m*ch
else. 0t is a bodily implying of some speech and tho*ght. 5here do yo* find that@ 0s it
implicit in external percept*al patterns@ Bo. *t if yo* no attend to yo*r bodily sense,
many incipient tho*ghts ...