The French thinker Maurice Merleau-Ponty was fascinated by the fact of human beings, in bodies, interacting with the world, which he found a "mysterious, paradoxical and ambiguous" process. In his Introduction to Phenomenology (a philosophical practice focused on direct descriptions of experience), Dermot Morgan (London: Routledge, 2000) explains Merleau-Ponty's interest in "the experience of a being with a body caught up in a finite and limited situation, but nevertheless with the experience of possibilities within that situation."
The implications of embodiment are, of course, also a concern of Buddhism. Buddhist master Chogyam Trungpa, founder of the Shambhala movement, wrote (among many other themes) about the issues faced by human beings following the spiritual path while living in bodies in the world.
Most recently, University of Sorbonne philosopher Renaud Barbaras is working on a theory of what life is, taking embodiment into account and focusing on concepts of desire and distance (Stanford University Press, 2006).
Bodies in Space: The Universe Responds
Merleau-Ponty considered that bodies inhabit space "like a hand to an instrument" and that "humans are inserted into the world in a very specific, organic way, determined by the nature of our sensory and motor capacities to perceive the world". He emphasized the "inseparability of self and the world". Moreover, he considered that there is a mutuality in the relationship--that "the world confronts our bodies as flesh meeting flesh" and that "the world seems pre-ordained to meet our meaning-intended acts".
Expressions of Experience
In their book Movement, Awareness and Creativity (Souvenir Press, 1975), dance teachers Bartal and Ne'eman describe their methods to discover "the healthy organic principles common to all human beings...the basic expressive impulses inherent in humans and animals."
From their perspective, the notion of expression or communication is significant. They are seeking "re-establishment of the human communication that has been distorted by a mechanical age." The idea that the body communicates in a way different from words is fundamental also to psychologists who study body language. In his book Visible Thought (London: Routledge, 2004) Geoffrey Beattie affirms that "nonverbal communication, as well as language, is linked to thinking and communicating information about the world".
Creativity and Life
Where do arts and culture come into this discussion about the body and the meaning of life? Merleau-Ponty maintained lifelong friendships with visual artists, believing that painting was a demonstration of "a more primordial...form of experience, not yet articulated in subject/predicate form."
The connection of dance to the basic experience of living appears to be a growing focus of phenomenologists. For example, accomplished New Zealand dance teacher and choreographer Michael Parmenter, who lives with the HIV virus and is a survivor of cancer, is undertaking work for a doctorate of philosophy under the guidance of Barbaras in Paris (Wellington Capital Times, 1-7 October, 2008).
A linked article on Suite 101, Dance and the Meaning of LIfe, provides background on the concept of body intelliegence and its use in endeavours such as sport and martial arts.
