Technicity of the Body as Part of the Socio‐technical System

The Contributions of Mauss and Bourdieu

Bibliographic Data

ID20142992
AuthorsErnst Wolff (0000-0003-1203-0664, University of Pretoria, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume76
Issue4
Pages333-354
Publication date2010-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheoria (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0040-5825 • E-ISSN: 1755-2567
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1755-2567.2010.01081.x
OpenAlexW2325656290
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited6

The aim of this article is to contribute to a philosophy of technics by proposing an answer to the following question: what is the nature of the human body as an element of technical systems? The argument focuses on an examination of the phenomenon of bodily technics. This examination is guided by the conviction that Pierre Bourdieu's social theory can be read as contributing significantly to an answer to the above question. However, since Bourdieu's project is not directly aimed at enhancing our understanding of the technicity of the human body, a reading of Marcel Mauss's seminal essay on bodily technics is also discussed to set the stage for an examination of the technicity of the body and to justify the manner in which Bourdieu's theory is read here. Through a careful study of the key notions of habitus, field, practice, time and rule, Bourdieu's social theory is systematically presented and explored for its contribution to an understanding of the question raised in this article. In conclusion, a number of remarks are made on how the relation between Mauss and Bourdieu is to be understood and on the argumentative strength of Bourdieu's work

Argument (complex analysis) · Argumentative · Conviction · Critical theory · Epistemology · Ethnography · Field (mathematics) · Habitus · Reading (process) · Relation (database) · Sociology · Anthropology · Law · Philosophical and Theoretical Analysis · Philosophy

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