A phenomenological study of the imagining body, toward a conception of imagination as a mode of being in the body

grantor: University of TorontoThis thesis is concerned with a conception of imagination as a mode of being in the body. In Western philosophical traditions, imagination is conceived as a mental faculty, and thus it has a tendency to leave us at the abyss between what is and what could be. In this thesis, I explore the possibility of an imagination that can actually yield gentle changes in life patterns. Exploring 'the imagining body,' which is the subtle sensibility that arises in the bodily engaged process of imagination, and examining it form a major part of the thesis. CHAPTER ONE offers my biographical background from which this study had taken off. I was at an impasse in my attempt to create a more harmonious way of living. CHAPTER ONE clarifies the theoretical assumptions that underlay my conventional attitude toward change. From CHAPTER TWO on, I explore an alternative concept of imagination. CHAPTER T WO focuses on the aspect of descending in the imagining process, in which the body begins to loosen and we notice what was not noticed before. CHAPTER THREE is an attempt to define 'the imagining body.' It presents the pilot research that I conducted on bodily experiences during painting, where I first encountered this sensibility. CHAPTER FOUR deals with the ascending aspect of the imagination. It is the aspect in which we integrate what has unfolded with our selves and our relations to the world. CHAPTER F IVE focuses on understanding the open nature of 'the imagining body.' The issue of time and space is also delved into, since the boundaries in time and space are observed to dissolve in the imagination. In CHAPTER SIX, I gather conceptual insights generated in this inquiry. I then reflect upon some shifts in my own awareness and attitudes toward change and imagination. My words in this work reflect the various logical spaces that I move through in the process of inquiring. The phenomenological, metaphorical, analytical, and conceptual modes of writing follow one another. This criss-crossing happens because I am exploring within the presence of the body.Ph.D