Poiesis, ecology and embodied cognition | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 18, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 1477-965X
  • E-ISSN: 1758-9533

Abstract

Since René Descartes famously separated the concepts of body and mind in the seventeenth century, western philosophy and theory have struggled to conceptualize the interconnectedness of minds, bodies, environments and cultures. While environmental psychology and the cognitive sciences have shown that spatial perception is ‘embodied’ and depends on the aforementioned concepts’ interconnectedness, architectural design practice, for example, has rarely incorporated these insights. The article presents research on the epistemological foundations that frame the communication between design theory and practice and juxtaposes it with scientific research on embodied experience. It further suggests that Asian aesthetics, with its long history in conceiving relations and art as interactive, could create a bridge between recent scientific insights and design practice. The article links Asian aesthetics to a discourse on ecologies in the post-Anthropocene, in dialogue with contemporary conceptions of time. It outlines an approach to the interconnectedness of minds, bodies, environments, the sciences and cultures, in favour of a future that is governed by creative wisdom rather than ‘smart’ efficiency.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00023_1
2020-03-01
2024-04-23
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Agamben, G.. ( 2004), The Open: Man and Animal, Stanford, CA:: Stanford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Ascott, R.. ( [1990] 2003;), ‘ Beyond time-based art: ESP, PDP, and PU (1990). ’, in E. Shanken. (ed.), Telematic Embrace: Visionary Theories of Art, Technology, and Consciousness, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;, pp. 22731.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Beer, S.. ( 1974), Designing Freedom, London:: John Wiley & Sons;.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Birrell, A.. ( 1999), Chinese Mythology: An Introduction, Baltimore, MD:: Johns Hopkins University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Boardman, P. C.. ( 1996), Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Culture, Needham Heights, MA:: Simon & Schuster;.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Crutzen, P. J., and Stoermer, E. F.. ( 2000;), ‘ The “Anthropocene. ”’, IGBP Newsletter, 41, pp. 1718.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Han, B.-C.. ( [2009] 2017), The Scent of Time: A Philosophical Essay on the Art of Lingering, Cambridge and Medford, MA:: Polity Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Haraway, D.. ( 2013), Multispecies Cosmopolitics: Staying with the Trouble, Tucson, AZ:: Arizona State University;, https://ihr.asu.edu/news-events/events/multispecies-cosmopolitics-staying-trouble. Accessed 11 March 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Haraway, D.,, Ishikawa, N.,, Gilbert, S. F.,, Olwig, K.,, Tsing A. L., and Bubandt, N.. ( 2016;), ‘ Anthropologists are talking: About the Anthropocene. ’, Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology, 81:3, pp. 53564.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Hegel, G. W. F.. ( 1920), The Philosophy of Fine Art, vol. 2 (trans. F. P. B. Osmaston.), London:: G. Bell & Sons;.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Heidel, W. A.. ( 1910;), ‘ A study of the conception of nature among the pre-Socratics. ’, Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 45:4, pp. 79133.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Hesiod and Most, G. W.. ( 2006), Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Cambridge, MA:: Harvard University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Jullien, F.. ( [2014] 2018), Living Off Landscape: Or, the Unthought-Of in Reason, Lanham, MD:: Rowman & Littlefield;.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Kant, I.. ( [1790] 1987), Critique of Judgment, Indianapolis:: Hackett Publishing;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Kubrick, S., and Clarke, A. C.. ( 1968), 2001: A Space Odyssey, USA:: MGM;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Li, B., and Pound, E.. ( 1915;), ‘ Poem by the Bridge at Ten-Shin. ’, Cathay, London:: Elkin Mathews;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Maturana, H. R.. ( [1970] 1980;), ‘ Biology of cognition. ’, in H. R. Maturana. (ed.), Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living, Dordrecht:: Reidel;, pp. 158.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Maturana, H. R., and Varela, F. J.. ( [1973] 1980;), ‘ Autopoiesis: The organization of the living. ’, in H. R. Maturana. (ed.), Autopoiesis and Cognition: The Realization of the Living, Dordrecht:: Reidel;, pp. 73138.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Morton, T.. ( 2007), Ecology without Nature: Rethinking Environmental Aesthetics, Cambridge, MA:: Harvard University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Morton, T.. ( 2010), The Ecological Thought, Cambridge, MA:: Harvard University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Most, G. W.. ( 2006), Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Cambridge, MA:: Harvard University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Reinert, A.. ( 2011;), ‘ The Blue Marble shot: Our first complete photograph of Earth. ’, The Atlantic, 12 April, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/04/the-blue-marble-shot-our-first-complete-photograph-of-Earth/237167/. Accessed 1 April 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Sloterdijk, P.. ( 2014;), ‘ Anthropo-technology. ’, New Perspectives Quarterly, 31:1, pp. 1219.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Tucker, M. E.. ( 2014;), ‘ The relevance of Chinese neo-Confucianism for the reverence of nature. ’, in G. A. James,, J. McRae, and J. B. Callicott. (eds), Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions of Thought, New York:: State University of New York Press;, pp. 13348.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Uexküll, J. v.. ( 1907;), ‘ Die Umrisse einer kommenden Weltanschauung. ’, Die Neue Rundschau, 18, pp. 64161.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Uexküll, J. v.. ( [1920] 1926), Theoretical Biology, New York:: Harcourt Brace;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Uexküll, J. v.. ( [1934] 1956), Streifzüge durch die Umwelten von Tieren und Menschen: ein Bilderbuch unsichtbarer Welten, Hamburg:: Rowohlt;.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Uexküll, J. v.. ( [1921] 2014), Uexküll: Umwelt und Innenwelt der Tiere, Berlin:: Springer Spektrum;.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Watson, B.. ( 1971), Chinese Lyricism: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century, New York:: Columbia University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Westermann, C.. ( 2018;), ‘ On delight: Thoughts for tomorrow. ’, Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 16:1, pp. 4351.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Westermann, C.. ( 2019;), ‘ An eco-poetic approach to architecture across boundaries. ’, KnE Social Sciences, 3:27, pp. 28191.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Whitehead, A. N.. ( 1920), The Concept of Nature: The Tarner Lectures Delivered in Trinity College November 1919, Cambridge:: Cambridge University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Westermann, Claudia. ( 2020;) ‘ Poiesis, ecology and embodied cognition. ’, Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 18:1, pp. 1929, doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/tear_00023_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00023_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00023_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): China; ecology; embodied cognition; poetics; poiesis; second-order cybernetics
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error