Abstract:

As we live our daily lives, our senses generally seem something that we “have,” not something that we “do.” But people learn that they have to develop sense abilities when they enter a wide variety of occupations and activities. This paper examines the techniques and strategies involved in turning to the backgrounded body as people shape their conduct. Most well-known contributions in philosophy and social thought that acknowledge that people unconsciously use their sensed bodies as foundations of their behaviour leave the “how” unexamined.

The key to seeing the work on the sensed unconscious is acknowledging that it is variable in character. Mentors, teachers, and senior practitioners help novices by showing them how they can turn on how they were unconsciously using their bodies in practice phases. Professor Maslen brings together cases from a wide variety of domains as part of a process of searching for commonalities in how actors turn to, or draw upon the body while maintaining it in the background.

Bio:

Sarah Maslen is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Canberra, Australia. Her work addresses knowing, embodiment, and the relationality of the human and non-human in various fields of activity.