The body: A phenomenological psychological perspective

# 3.5 Summary of Section 3

Phenomenologists focus on how bodies are experienced at a subjective and intersubjective (relational) level. Phenomenological psychologists seek to transcend the mind-body dualism, arguing that all we have is an intelligent body, with the body and mind one and the same: not simply biology; we are our body and, through this, perform selfhood. This bodily experience is also often pre-reflective and extra-discursive – we experience and use our body before we think about it. And it is through using our bodies in our everyday activities that we perceive the world, relate to others and, in the process, learn about ourselves. More radically still, some phenomenologists argue on an ontological level that there can be no distinction between minds and bodies or subjects and objects, since the two are one and the same thing – inextricably intertwined as the flesh of the world.

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