Meditating with Wittgenstein: Constructing and Deconstructing the Language Games of Masculinity (original) (raw)

In Defense of Wittgenstein’s Therapeutic Philosophy

Talisik, 2019

Wittgensteinian therapeutic philosophy is accused of being an uncritical philosophy. This allegation is raised by Critical Theory and specifically by Matthew Crippen. Wittgensteinian therapeutic philosophy purportedly redacts any critique towards oppressive social conditions especially the ones engendered in language itself. It therefore refrains and discourages the questioning of oppressive conditions of pressing concern. However, this accusation against Wittgensteinian therapeutic philosophy is found wanting. This research shows that Crippen and Critical Theory inadequately assess the character of Wittgensteinian therapeutic philosophy. This work argues that, on the contrary, Wittgensteinian therapeutic philosophy facilitates the endeavor of critique. It offers a paradigmatic reminder of how to do critique viz. doing a critique that is sensitive to

Psyches Therapeia: Therapeutic Dimensions in Heidegger and Wittgenstein

This article explores the philosophies of Heidegger and Wittgenstein to illustrate the thesis that philosophy is a human activity exhibiting a unity of investigative and therapeutic aims. For both philosophers, the purpose of philosophical concepts is to point toward a path of transformation rather than to explain. For both, a first step on this path is the recognition of constraining illusions, whether conventional or metaphysical. For both, such illusions are sedimented in linguistic practices, and for both, philosophical investigation is a way of emancipating thought and life from illusion by bringing what is already prereflectively understood into the light of thematic explicitness. And what both philosophers bring into thematic explicitness are aspects of the context-embeddedness and finitude of human existence. It is hoped that comparing the works of these two philosophers will unveil features of each that are more difficult to discern in the works of either considered in isolation.

Transcending the dualisms: towards a sociology of pain

Sociology of Health and Illness, 1995

Theories of pain have traditionally been dominated by biomedicine and concentrate upon its neurophysiological aspects, both in diagnosis and treatment. Hence, scientific medicine reduces the experience of pain to an elaborate broadcasting system of signals, rather than seeing it as moulded and shaped both by the individual and their particular socio-cultural context. Although pain lies at the intersection between biology and culture, naaking it an obvious topic for sociological investigation, scant attention has been paid to understanding beliefs about pain within the study of health and Ulness. A major impediment to a more adequate conceptualisation of pain is due to the manner in which it has been 'medicalised', resulting in the inevitable Cartesian split between body and mind. Consequently, the dominant conceptualisation of pain has focused upon sensation, with the subsequent inference that it is able to be rationally and objectively measured. Yet as well as being a medical 'problem', pain is an everyday experience. Moreover, sociological and phenomenological approaches to pain would add to, and enhance, existing bodies of knowledge and help to reclaim pain from the dominant scientific paradigm. In this paper, it is argued, firstly, that the elevation of sensation over emotion within medico-psychological approaches to pain^can be shown to be limiting and reductionist. Secondly, we attempt to show how insights from the newly-emerging sociological arenas of emotions and embodiment provide a framework which is able to both transcend the divide between mind and body and to develop a phenomenoiogical approach to pain. Finally, in order to bring the meaning of pain into fuller focus, we draw attention to the importance of studying theodices and narratives, as well as the cultural shaping and patterning of beliefs and responses to pain.

Pain, Gender, and Systems of Belief and Practice

Religion Compass, 2011

In the Eurowest pain is discursively framed as something that eludes discourse and therefore is outside language. In this framing, pain, as outside language, is given a social and a historical status understood to be beyond human construction. This article is the first step in a larger project toward destablizing such a conceptualization of pain and begins by engaging feminist theorizing of body and pain. In this paper my effort is to trouble the way we think about the body and pain in the Eurowest and to examine some of the outcomes of such thinking. Thereafter, I propose a conceptualization of the body and pain that might be helpful for examining their discursive formation.

Pain as an Intersubjective Experience

Canadian Hermeneutic Institute

Hermeneutics has traditionally been associated with the interpretation of religious and literary texts. While most hermeneutical theorists and practitioners have concentrated on the text to be interpreted and the historical context out of which that text emerged, Merleau-Ponty's emphasis upon the primacy of embodied experience suggests that the body of the interpreter is a crucial (albeit often overlooked) component of hermeneutical investigation. Turning our attention to the body, raises new hermeneutical questions concerning the respective roles an individual's gender, race, sexuality, age, and/or bodily capabilities might play in determining which interpretations of a given text or situation are more likely to be accepted by that individual than others. Beginning with Merleau-Ponty and moving on to contemporary work in feminist theory, critical race theory, disability studies, and critical gerontology, we will explore the implications of taking the body seriously as a primary site of hermeneutical investigation and practice.

On saying it hurts: Performativity and politics of pain

Meanings of pain. Springer, forthcoming., 2018

Pain and pleasure affect us all. Knowing this with empathy, and acting upon it, civilises us. Without such empathy, pain can become a means of domination and injustice. Moreover, pain is expressed and responded to in all social contexts, and the word " pain " has diverse meanings, depending on the associated activities. To observe various ways in which we say that it hurts, and the many meanings of pain, I follow ordinary-language philosophy, particularly Ludwig Wittgenstein and J.L. Austin, and I consider a range of social and historical contexts, from the closest intimacy, everyday chatter, the clinic, and beyond, to the domain of public policy and human rights. This addresses our verbal expressions of pain, their lived contexts and effects, within relationships and among social groups, altering mutual obligations, eliciting actions and reactions, and thence creating moral, legal and political norms. My aim, then, is to consider the social and political implications of ordinary performative pain-talk, in particular regarding the relationship between pain and justice, public policy, human rights and law.

Neoliberal Hegemonic Masculinity and McMindfulness: The Need for Buddhist Values and Principles in Mindful Masculinity Programs

Religions

This paper explores how certain Buddhist-inspired principles such as impermanence of self and compassion for all (metta) and the practice of mindfulness can contribute to challenging ways in which young men adopt troublesome aspects of systemic patriarchy. It (1) briefly examines the problem of systemic patriarchy in its most dominant forms, neoliberal hegemonic masculinity and right-wing racist authoritarian masculinity; (2) critically discusses examples of mindfulness education and counseling programs for young men that have been severed from their Buddhist origins (McMindfulness) that attempt to challenge young men around patriarchal beliefs and thoughts but end up reproducing neoliberal hegemonic masculinity; (3) briefly considers the problem of McMindfulness and its relation to Buddhism and neoliberal hegemonic and mindful masculinity; and (4) offers Buddhist perspectives as part of a counter-view that may serve within programs as an alternative to current forms of patriarchy w...