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A radical phenomenology of the body : subjectivity and sensations in body image and body schema

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Abstract
The role of sensations for body experience and body representations such as body image and body schema seems indisputable. This chapter discusses the link between sensory input, the experience of one’s own body, and body representations such as body image and body schema. That happens on the basis of Michel Henry’s radical phenomenology of the body, which unites body and subjectivity and reconsiders the role of sensory input for the experience of the body and related representations. Without supporting, but inspired by, Henry’s ontological dualism between subjective and objective body, it is argued that the traditional view that considers sensory signals as all-important for bodily experience misses out a bodily dimension crucial for subjectivity—the body’s subjective dimension, not reigned by current sensory input. Cognitive science seems willing to accept representations that are over and above sensory input but still experiential in nature. The exact status of these ‘offline’ representations is, however, unclear. If it is true that these offline representations are responsible for crucial aspects of bodily subjective life (e.g., unity, ownership, presence), then it is unclear how these representations bring this experience about. Whereas online bodily representations are based on sensory input, offline bodily representations seem to be based on bodily experience over and above sensory life. In other words, they seem to represent or mediate what they are supposed to explain—the subjective body.
Keywords
phenomenology, Michel Henry, sensation, body image, body schema, subjectivity

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MLA
De Preester, Helena. “A Radical Phenomenology of the Body : Subjectivity and Sensations in Body Image and Body Schema.” Body Schema and Body Image : New Directions, edited by Yochai Ataria et al., Oxford University Press, 2021, pp. 52–68, doi:10.1093/oso/9780198851721.003.0004.
APA
De Preester, H. (2021). A radical phenomenology of the body : subjectivity and sensations in body image and body schema. In Y. Ataria, S. Tanaka, & S. Gallager (Eds.), Body schema and body image : new directions (pp. 52–68). https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198851721.003.0004
Chicago author-date
De Preester, Helena. 2021. “A Radical Phenomenology of the Body : Subjectivity and Sensations in Body Image and Body Schema.” In Body Schema and Body Image : New Directions, edited by Yochai Ataria, Shogo Tanaka, and Shaun Gallager, 52–68. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198851721.003.0004.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
De Preester, Helena. 2021. “A Radical Phenomenology of the Body : Subjectivity and Sensations in Body Image and Body Schema.” In Body Schema and Body Image : New Directions, ed by. Yochai Ataria, Shogo Tanaka, and Shaun Gallager, 52–68. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198851721.003.0004.
Vancouver
1.
De Preester H. A radical phenomenology of the body : subjectivity and sensations in body image and body schema. In: Ataria Y, Tanaka S, Gallager S, editors. Body schema and body image : new directions. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2021. p. 52–68.
IEEE
[1]
H. De Preester, “A radical phenomenology of the body : subjectivity and sensations in body image and body schema,” in Body schema and body image : new directions, Y. Ataria, S. Tanaka, and S. Gallager, Eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021, pp. 52–68.
@incollection{8746026,
  abstract     = {{The role of sensations for body experience and body representations such as body image and body schema seems indisputable. This chapter discusses the link between sensory input, the experience of one’s own body, and body representations such as body image and body schema. That happens on the basis of Michel Henry’s radical phenomenology of the body, which unites body and subjectivity and reconsiders the role of sensory input for the experience of the body and related representations. Without supporting, but inspired by, Henry’s ontological dualism between subjective and objective body, it is argued that the traditional view that considers sensory signals as all-important for bodily experience misses out a bodily dimension crucial for subjectivity—the body’s subjective dimension, not reigned by current sensory input. Cognitive science seems willing to accept representations that are over and above sensory input but still experiential in nature. The exact status of these ‘offline’ representations is, however, unclear. If it is true that these offline representations are responsible for crucial aspects of bodily subjective life (e.g., unity, ownership, presence), then it is unclear how these representations bring this experience about. Whereas online bodily representations are based on sensory input, offline bodily representations seem to be based on bodily experience over and above sensory life. In other words, they seem to represent or mediate what they are supposed to explain—the subjective body.}},
  author       = {{De Preester, Helena}},
  booktitle    = {{Body schema and body image : new directions}},
  editor       = {{Ataria, Yochai and Tanaka, Shogo and Gallager, Shaun}},
  isbn         = {{9780198851721}},
  keywords     = {{phenomenology,Michel Henry,sensation,body image,body schema,subjectivity}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{52--68}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  title        = {{A radical phenomenology of the body : subjectivity and sensations in body image and body schema}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198851721.003.0004}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}

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