Leszek Kołakowski once wrote such a sentence: “Metaphysics pushed out the door returns through the window”. These words of the Polish philosopher are still valid. Metaphysics did not die, although it went through intricate paths of criticism. It cannot be practised any more as Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas or Hegel did. Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas and Maurice Merleau-Ponty introduced it to new paths. One thought seems obvious: metaphysics cannot be practised outside cultural, sociological and psychological contexts. In this paper, we seek metaphysical experience in contemporary culture. It is impossible to mention all the paths followed by culture and metaphysics related to it. Obviously, not every cultural phenomenon “generates metaphysics”, but the scale of the changes and redefinitions requires us to seek metaphysics in places where it has not been expected before. One of them is the omnipresent phenomenon of the so-called selfie. A photograph, taken with a smartphone, which documents both the person taking the photo and a trace of the environment they are in, is an attempt to create a new reality. “Creation” and reproduction are complicated cognitive processes. One may ask: is it not an attempt to formulate a “new metaphysics”? Can we provide its definition? Yes, we can. It is the metaphysics of oneself. An important inspiration for the presented reflections is a film by a renowned Polish director, Krzysztof Kieślowski – “Amator”. Descartes and Merleau-Ponty cannot be overlooked either. The conclusion I aim to reach is the following: a selfie is a rendering of a person, who is running away from himself and at the same time wants to find himself; who wants to notice, but does not notice; who wants to see, but does not see. This “pursuit” means both an escape from reason, concealed under a hastily conjured smile or seriousness.
| Published in | International Journal of Philosophy (Volume 7, Issue 2) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15 |
| Page(s) | 72-81 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Metaphysics of the Self, Modern Metaphysics, Selfie, Modern Culture, Insert
| [1] | Aristotle, Metaphysics I, 2, 10-15, translated by W. D. Ross, eBooks@Adelaide, 2015. |
| [2] | Using this term, I will refer to the so-called classical, Aristotelian-Thomistic metaphysics, which will provide the framework for the "metaphysics of the self" which is related, or more precisely, included in the act of making a selfie and a product of this activity. |
| [3] | C. Brush, From the perspective of the self. Montaigne’s Self-Portrait, Fordham University Press, New York 1994, p. 18. |
| [4] | https://publicdomainreview.org/collections/robert-cornelius-self-portrait-the-first-ever-selfie-1839/ |
| [5] | Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, translated by Colin Smith, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London and New York, 2003, p.78. |
| [6] | Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology of Perception, translated by Colin Smith, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London and New York, 2003, p.79. |
| [7] | P. Dybel, Malowanie ciałem czyli filozofia malarstwa Merleau-Ponty’ego, ASP w Gdańsku, Gdańsk 2012, p. 4. |
| [8] | J Migasiński, Metafizyka i malarstwo, In: Sztuka i filozofia 7 (1993), p. 62. |
| [9] | M. Gogacz, Ważniejsze zagadnienia metafizyki, In: http://www.katedra.uksw.edu.pl/gogacz/ksiazki/wazniejsze_zagadnienia_metafizyki.pdf, p. 6. |
| [10] | M. Gogacz, Ważniejsze zagadnienia metafizyki, In: http://www.katedra.uksw.edu.pl/gogacz/ksiazki/wazniejsze_zagadnienia_metafizyki.pdf, p. 22. |
| [11] | I am comparing the moment of looking at oneself while taking a selfie and looking at the world. The former and the latter are similar, in both cases there is me and something that is currently given to me. |
| [12] | The same happens when starting with a spontaneous contact with the object, I proceed to the attempt to explain its causes. |
| [13] | J. P. Sartre, Basic Writings, edited by Stephen Priest, Routledge, London and New York 2001, p. 143. |
| [14] | M. A. Krapiec, Metafizyka, Redakcja Wydawnictw Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego, Lublin 1985, p. 33. |
| [15] | E. Levinas, Existence and Existents, translated by Alphonso Lingis, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht / Boston / London, 1978 p. 18. |
| [16] | S. Świeżawski., Byt. Zagadnienia metafizyki tomistycznej, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków 1999, p. 119. |
| [17] | The Confessions of Saint Augustine, Book XI, 15, translated by E. B. Pusey, retrieved from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3296/3296-h/3296-h.htm on 24.01.2019 |
| [18] | M. Foucault, Nadzorować i karać, przeł. T. Komendant, Wydawnictwo Aletheia, Warszawa 1993, p. 29. |
| [19] | T. Sławek, Cienie i rzeczy. Rozważania o dotyku, [In]: W przestrzeni dotyku, ed. B. Konopka, MDK Batory, Chorzów 2009, pp. 16-17. |
| [20] | The Author wants to emphasize that this phrasing is a mental shortcut, since here we should not omit the insightful analyses of Martin Heidegger (“handiness of the object”) or Ludwig Wittgenstein (“means of use”). |
| [21] | T. Sławek, Cienie i rzeczy. Rozważania o dotyku, [In]: W przestrzeni dotyku, ed. B. Konopka, MDK Batory, Chorzów 2009, p. 27. |
APA Style
Mirosław Pawliszyn. (2019). Metaphysics of the Self, the Selfie as a Splinter of Modern Culture. International Journal of Philosophy, 7(2), 72-81. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15
ACS Style
Mirosław Pawliszyn. Metaphysics of the Self, the Selfie as a Splinter of Modern Culture. Int. J. Philos. 2019, 7(2), 72-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15
AMA Style
Mirosław Pawliszyn. Metaphysics of the Self, the Selfie as a Splinter of Modern Culture. Int J Philos. 2019;7(2):72-81. doi: 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15,
author = {Mirosław Pawliszyn},
title = {Metaphysics of the Self, the Selfie as a Splinter of Modern Culture},
journal = {International Journal of Philosophy},
volume = {7},
number = {2},
pages = {72-81},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijp.20190702.15},
abstract = {Leszek Kołakowski once wrote such a sentence: “Metaphysics pushed out the door returns through the window”. These words of the Polish philosopher are still valid. Metaphysics did not die, although it went through intricate paths of criticism. It cannot be practised any more as Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas or Hegel did. Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas and Maurice Merleau-Ponty introduced it to new paths. One thought seems obvious: metaphysics cannot be practised outside cultural, sociological and psychological contexts. In this paper, we seek metaphysical experience in contemporary culture. It is impossible to mention all the paths followed by culture and metaphysics related to it. Obviously, not every cultural phenomenon “generates metaphysics”, but the scale of the changes and redefinitions requires us to seek metaphysics in places where it has not been expected before. One of them is the omnipresent phenomenon of the so-called selfie. A photograph, taken with a smartphone, which documents both the person taking the photo and a trace of the environment they are in, is an attempt to create a new reality. “Creation” and reproduction are complicated cognitive processes. One may ask: is it not an attempt to formulate a “new metaphysics”? Can we provide its definition? Yes, we can. It is the metaphysics of oneself. An important inspiration for the presented reflections is a film by a renowned Polish director, Krzysztof Kieślowski – “Amator”. Descartes and Merleau-Ponty cannot be overlooked either. The conclusion I aim to reach is the following: a selfie is a rendering of a person, who is running away from himself and at the same time wants to find himself; who wants to notice, but does not notice; who wants to see, but does not see. This “pursuit” means both an escape from reason, concealed under a hastily conjured smile or seriousness.},
year = {2019}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Metaphysics of the Self, the Selfie as a Splinter of Modern Culture AU - Mirosław Pawliszyn Y1 - 2019/06/19 PY - 2019 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15 T2 - International Journal of Philosophy JF - International Journal of Philosophy JO - International Journal of Philosophy SP - 72 EP - 81 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-7455 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijp.20190702.15 AB - Leszek Kołakowski once wrote such a sentence: “Metaphysics pushed out the door returns through the window”. These words of the Polish philosopher are still valid. Metaphysics did not die, although it went through intricate paths of criticism. It cannot be practised any more as Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas or Hegel did. Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas and Maurice Merleau-Ponty introduced it to new paths. One thought seems obvious: metaphysics cannot be practised outside cultural, sociological and psychological contexts. In this paper, we seek metaphysical experience in contemporary culture. It is impossible to mention all the paths followed by culture and metaphysics related to it. Obviously, not every cultural phenomenon “generates metaphysics”, but the scale of the changes and redefinitions requires us to seek metaphysics in places where it has not been expected before. One of them is the omnipresent phenomenon of the so-called selfie. A photograph, taken with a smartphone, which documents both the person taking the photo and a trace of the environment they are in, is an attempt to create a new reality. “Creation” and reproduction are complicated cognitive processes. One may ask: is it not an attempt to formulate a “new metaphysics”? Can we provide its definition? Yes, we can. It is the metaphysics of oneself. An important inspiration for the presented reflections is a film by a renowned Polish director, Krzysztof Kieślowski – “Amator”. Descartes and Merleau-Ponty cannot be overlooked either. The conclusion I aim to reach is the following: a selfie is a rendering of a person, who is running away from himself and at the same time wants to find himself; who wants to notice, but does not notice; who wants to see, but does not see. This “pursuit” means both an escape from reason, concealed under a hastily conjured smile or seriousness. VL - 7 IS - 2 ER -
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