Real Presences

Meaning as Living Movement in a Participatory World

Bibliographic Data

ID20400736
AuthorsJohn Shotter (University of New Hampshire, corresponding author)
Year2003
Volume13
Issue4
Pages435-468
Publication date2003-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTheory & Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-3543 • E-ISSN: 1461-7447
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/09593543030134001
OpenAlexW1992738938
LanguageEN
Citations received27
References cited11

In our talk of meanings, we are used to thinking of them as working in terms of mental representations, and to thinking of such representations as passive objects of thought requiring interpretation in terms of shared rules, conventions or principles if their meaning is to be understood. Here, however, I argue that the meaningfulness of our language does not initially depend on its systematicity, but on our spontaneous, living, bodily responsiveness to the others and othernesses around us. Hence, I want to explore the realm of expressive-responsive bodily activity that `pre-dates', so to speak, the `calculational' processes we currently think of as underlying our linguistic understandings, the realm within which direct and immediate, non-interpretational physiognomic or gestural forms of understanding can occur. Central to activities occurring between us in this sphere is the emergence of dynamically unfolding structures of activity that we all participate in `shaping', but to which we all must also be responsive in giving shape to our own actions. It is the agentic influence of these invisible but nonetheless felt `real presences' that I want to explore. Their influence can be felt as acting upon us in a way similar to the expressions of more visible beings. Thus, within this sphere of physiognomic meanings, it is as if invisible but authoritative others can directly `call' us into action, can issue us with `action-guiding advisories', and judge our subsequent actions accordingly with their `facial' expressions or `tones' of voice. Below I will explore how this—some would say, `mystic' (Lévy-Bruhl)—form of participatory thought and understanding can help us to understand the `inner' nature of our social lives together, and the part played by our expressive talk in their creation

Aesthetics · Cognitive science · Epistemology · Linguistics · Realm · Communication · Education, sociology, and vocational training · Philosophy · Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research · Psychology · Social Representations and Identity

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