A modern classic, this powerful and sophisticated account of embodiment was first published in German in 1928 and now appears in English for the first time. With reference simultaneously to science, social theory, and philosophy, Plessner shows how life can be seen on its own terms to establish its own boundaries. Plessner's account of how the human establishes itself in relation to the nonhuman will invigorate a range of current conversations around the animal, posthumanism, the material turn, and the biology and sociology of cognition.
A modern classic, this powerful and sophisticated account of embodiment was first published in German in 1928 and now appears in English for the first time. With reference simultaneously to science, social theory, and philosophy, Plessner shows how life can be seen on its own terms to establish its own boundaries. Plessner's account of how the human establishes itself in relation to the nonhuman will invigorate a range of current conversations around the animal, posthumanism, the material turn, and the biology and sociology of cognition.
Foreword from the Helmuth Plessner Society vii Translator's Preface and Acknowledgments ix Preface to the First Edition (1928) xv Preface to the Second Edition (1965) xix Introduction xxxvii J. M. Bernstein 1. Aim and Scope of the Study 1 The Development of Intuitionist Lebensphilosophie in Opposition to Experience, 3 Lebensphilosophie and the Theory of the Humanities, 11 Working Plan for the Foundation of a Philosophy of the Human, 22 2. The Cartesian Objection and the Nature of the Problem 34 Extension vs. Interiority and the Problem of Appearance, 34 Appearance as Originating in Interiority, 38 The Prior Givenness of Interiority and the Forward Displacement of Myself: The Proposition of Immanence 41 Extension as Outer World; Interiority as Inner World, 46 The Proposition of Representation and the Element of Sensation, 51 The Inaccessibility of Other I's according to the Principle of Sensualism, 55 The Need for a Revision of the Cartesian Dichotomy in the Interest of a Science of Life, 58 A Methodological Reformulation of the Opening Question, 64 3. The Thesis 75 The Question, 75 The Dual Aspect in the Appearance of Ordinary Perceptual Things, 76 Against the Misinterpretation of This Analysis: A Closer Focus on the Subject Matter, 81 The Dual Aspect of Living Perceptual Things: Köhler contra Driesch, 84 How Is Dual Aspectivity Possible? The Nature of the Boundary, 93 The Task of a Theory of the Essential Characteristics of the Organic, 99 Definitions of Life, 104 Nature and Object of a Theory of the Essential Characteristics of the Organic, 110 4. The Modes of Being of Vitality 115 Essential Characteristics Indicating Vitality, 115 The Positionality of Living Being and Its Spacelikeness, 118 Living Being as Process and Type; the Dynamic Character of the Living Form; the Individuality of the Living Thing, 123 Living Process as Development, 129 The Curve of Development: Aging and Death, 137 The Individual Living Thing as a System, 144 The Self-Regulation of the Individual Living Thing and the Harmonious Equipotentiality of Its Parts, 149 Individual Living Things as Organized: The Dual Meaning of Organs, 154 The Temporality of Living Being, 159 The Positional Union of Space and Time and the Natural Place, 168 5. The Organizational Modes of Living Being: Plants and Animals 172 The Circle of Life, 172 Assimilation-Dissimilation, 182 Adaptedness and Adaptation, 186 Reproduction, Heredity, Selection, 196 The Open Form of Organization of the Plant, 202 The Closed Form of Organization of the Animal, 209 6. The Sphere of the Animal 219 The Positionality of the Closed Form: Centrality and Frontality, 219 The Coordination of Stimulus and Response in the Case of an Inoperative Subject (Decentralized Type of Organization), 227 The Coordination of Stimulus and Response by a Subject (Centralized Type of Organization), 231 The Animal's Surrounding Field Organized into Complex Qualities and Things, 242 Intelligence, 252 Memory, 257 Memory as the Unity of Residue and Anticipation, 262 7. The Sphere of the Human 267 The Positionality of the Excentric Form: "I" and Personhood, 267 Outer World, Inner World, Shared World, 272 The Fundamental Laws of Anthropology: The Law of Natural Artificiality, 287 The Law of Mediated Immediacy: Immanence and Expressivity, 298 The Law of the Utopian Standpoint: Nullity and Transcendence, 316 Appendix 323 Glossary 337 Notes 345 Index 359
Foreword from the Helmuth Plessner Society vii Translator's Preface and Acknowledgments ix Preface to the First Edition (1928) xv Preface to the Second Edition (1965) xix Introduction xxxvii J. M. Bernstein 1. Aim and Scope of the Study 1 The Development of Intuitionist Lebensphilosophie in Opposition to Experience, 3 Lebensphilosophie and the Theory of the Humanities, 11 Working Plan for the Foundation of a Philosophy of the Human, 22 2. The Cartesian Objection and the Nature of the Problem 34 Extension vs. Interiority and the Problem of Appearance, 34 Appearance as Originating in Interiority, 38 The Prior Givenness of Interiority and the Forward Displacement of Myself: The Proposition of Immanence 41 Extension as Outer World; Interiority as Inner World, 46 The Proposition of Representation and the Element of Sensation, 51 The Inaccessibility of Other I's according to the Principle of Sensualism, 55 The Need for a Revision of the Cartesian Dichotomy in the Interest of a Science of Life, 58 A Methodological Reformulation of the Opening Question, 64 3. The Thesis 75 The Question, 75 The Dual Aspect in the Appearance of Ordinary Perceptual Things, 76 Against the Misinterpretation of This Analysis: A Closer Focus on the Subject Matter, 81 The Dual Aspect of Living Perceptual Things: Köhler contra Driesch, 84 How Is Dual Aspectivity Possible? The Nature of the Boundary, 93 The Task of a Theory of the Essential Characteristics of the Organic, 99 Definitions of Life, 104 Nature and Object of a Theory of the Essential Characteristics of the Organic, 110 4. The Modes of Being of Vitality 115 Essential Characteristics Indicating Vitality, 115 The Positionality of Living Being and Its Spacelikeness, 118 Living Being as Process and Type; the Dynamic Character of the Living Form; the Individuality of the Living Thing, 123 Living Process as Development, 129 The Curve of Development: Aging and Death, 137 The Individual Living Thing as a System, 144 The Self-Regulation of the Individual Living Thing and the Harmonious Equipotentiality of Its Parts, 149 Individual Living Things as Organized: The Dual Meaning of Organs, 154 The Temporality of Living Being, 159 The Positional Union of Space and Time and the Natural Place, 168 5. The Organizational Modes of Living Being: Plants and Animals 172 The Circle of Life, 172 Assimilation-Dissimilation, 182 Adaptedness and Adaptation, 186 Reproduction, Heredity, Selection, 196 The Open Form of Organization of the Plant, 202 The Closed Form of Organization of the Animal, 209 6. The Sphere of the Animal 219 The Positionality of the Closed Form: Centrality and Frontality, 219 The Coordination of Stimulus and Response in the Case of an Inoperative Subject (Decentralized Type of Organization), 227 The Coordination of Stimulus and Response by a Subject (Centralized Type of Organization), 231 The Animal's Surrounding Field Organized into Complex Qualities and Things, 242 Intelligence, 252 Memory, 257 Memory as the Unity of Residue and Anticipation, 262 7. The Sphere of the Human 267 The Positionality of the Excentric Form: "I" and Personhood, 267 Outer World, Inner World, Shared World, 272 The Fundamental Laws of Anthropology: The Law of Natural Artificiality, 287 The Law of Mediated Immediacy: Immanence and Expressivity, 298 The Law of the Utopian Standpoint: Nullity and Transcendence, 316 Appendix 323 Glossary 337 Notes 345 Index 359
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