Post
by Dionysus » July 30th, 2020, 3:48 pm
Hello fellow scholars,
I argue that the term "self-awareness" is a fallacy.
What one is aware of is a continuum that includes our physical body, (including our senses, thoughts, emotions, desires, etc.) PLUS the "external world" and its unfolding phenomena.
What exists, what one has "awareness of", is a continuous transaction between our bodies and the external world.
I.e. we would not have a sensation of "Self" or "Individuation" without an external environment interacting with the boundary of our body (I include the mind in my use of the term body.)
We would not be aware of our limbs if they were not facing resistance from the environment, we would not have sight if our eyes had nothing exterior to them to be aware of. Etc.
So, Self-awareness implies, and depends on awareness of "Other" and they are in a perpetual transaction.
Therefore, there is only "Awareness", adding the "Self" to the term is both redundant and reductionist.
You cannot describe a "Self" without describing its context, environment. This is true for any organism, or process.