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Gendlin, E.T. (1992). The primacy of the body, not the primacy of perception [Excerpt

from pages !"#, slightly re$ised%. Man and World, 25("!), !1"#. &rom

http'.foc*sing.orggendlindocsgol+212.html

The primacy of the body, not theprimacy of perception:

How the body knows the situation and

philosophy

E. T. Gendlin

-ni$ersity of hicago

The primacy of perception leads to a traditional problem. /erception inherently in$ol$esa dat*m, clear or *nclear, something that exists for  someone, happens to someone, or is

 present before someone. /erception remains a being"for. 0f one begins ith perception,

then interaction seems to consist of to indi$id*al percepts.

The percept is a ind of di$iding screen. That is not an error. The di$iding"screen lies in

the $ery nat*re of perception. There is an error only in starting ith perception.

/erception is a dat*m"ha$ing. o it cannot be the basic form of life. The plant is an

interaction directly ith its en$ironment, itho*t a percept*al dat*m in front of itself 0ts

 body does not first exist and only then interact. 3ather, its groth and life"processes

consist of en$ironmental interaction. 4nd o*r bodies also consist of s*ch en$ironmental

interaction processes. That ind of interaction is s*rely prior to the ha$ing of presented

 percept*al data.

5hen philosophy considers perception it cannot help b*t consider a percept, something

 presented, an ob6ect constit*ted between the body and the en$ironment. 7f co*rse one

nos that percepts do not exist alone8 they pre"s*ppose a body8 they do not float alone,

first. *t if one begins by considering perception, the percept p*ts itself first and di$ides

the percei$er off, p*ts the percei$er behind the percept, and renders the body as merely

a percei$er.

0 o*ld lie to bring home ho odd this common ay of proceeding really is. 4 perceptact*ally exists only as a presented before, or a coming into, a coming at. 0t exists only

for someone. 4nd yet it presents itself as if it ere a thing that exists. The percept is

lopped off:lops itself off:as if it co*ld be a thing on its on, e$en hile one f*lly

nos that it isn;t. That is in the $ery nat*re of perception, something presented,

something happening"to"someone.

/erception di$ides the someone off, as coming second, *nderstood only bacard from

hat is already a percept. 7nce the percept is taen as hat it seems to be, then the

 percei$er cannot add m*ch. Traditionally the percei$er added nearly nothing, 6*st the

ha$ing"of, the conscio*sness"of, 6*st the percei$er of"the"percept, the transparent

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The scientific constr*ction of the *ni$erse consists of percepts and percept"lie patterns

 presented  before *s. 0t renders h*mans and animals as something presented in a space

 before *s (or before someone). *t e are not the presented8 e are the to"hom of the

 presented. The to"hom that is inherent in anything presented cannot be a presented

dat*m. o e h*mans cannot find o*rsel$es ithin the scientific pict*re, since it

consists of presenteds. 5e seem to be only the percei$ers"of or constr*ctors"of the pict*re, as if e ere o*tside the *ni$erse, the percei$er ho does not appear in the

 percept.

To begin philosophy by considering perception maes it seem that li$ing things can

contact reality only thro*gh perception. *t plants are in contact ith reality. They are

interactions, =*ite itho*t perception. 7*r on li$ing bodies also are interactions ith

their en$ironments, and that is not lost 6*st beca*se o*rs also ha$e perception. 7n the

contrary, for *s that f*nctions in many additional ays. 4nimal bodies:incl*ding o*rs

 :sense themsel$es, and thereby e sense the interactional li$ing e are. 0n sensing

themsel$es, o*r bodies sense o*r physical en$ironment and o*r h*man sit*ations. The

 perception of colors, smells, and so*nds is only a small part of this.

7*r bodies sense themsel$es in li$ing in o*r sit*ations. 7*r bodies do o*r li$ing. 7*r

 bodies are infraction in the en$ironment8 they interact as bodies, not 6*st thro*gh hat

comes ith the fi$e senses. 7*r bodies don;t l*r in isolation behind the fi$e peepholes

of perception.

5hat the ord

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not the fi$e senses, b*t the sentient bodily interaction that taes on lang*age and history

 :and then alays still exceeds them. >et me sho this'

?erlea*"/onty says that e sense the space behind o*r bacs. /lease notice for a

moment that this is tr*e8 yo* can sense the space behind yo*r bac.

0s that still to be called

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 bodily sense separate from the sit*ation and merely internal. 0t is certainly not 6*st an

emotional reaction to the danger. 0t is that, b*t it also incl*des more of the intricacy of

yo*r sit*ation than yo* can see or thin. Ao*r bodily ... is yo*r sit*ation. 0t is not a

 percei$ed ob6ect before yo* or e$en behind yo*. The body"sense is the sit*ation,

inherently an interaction, not a mix of to things.

o*ld one arg*e that the ... is merely indeterminate? I  arg*e that s*ch a ... is not at all

indeterminate. 3ather, it is more determinate than anything that is already formed. Ao*

can see this beca*se the next mo$e, hen it comes, ill ha$e taen acco*nt of more

than anything formed can bring. Ao* can see that this bodily f*nction is more than 6*st

the contradictory alternati$es. 0f only they ere there, they co*ld not be together:they

o*ld cancel each other o*t. *t yo*r body can ha$e them together, and hat is more,

has them eighed and interrelated as possible next mo$es. 0f yo* fight, there are too

many of them8 if yo* sho*t yo* might be attaced immediately8 if yo* r*n, so ill they8

if yo* enter a b*ilding, they ill come in after yo*8 if yo* .... Ao* don;t ha$e time to

thin each of the possible mo$es separately, b*t they are implicitly at or in yo*r

 bodily sensed ... hich f*nctions to determine yo*r act*al mo$e.

The

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&rom contradictory forms alone one co*ld only get indeterminacy. *t the animal body

f*nctions also after and ith all the h*man elaborations. 0t li$es the alternati$es f*rther

and can shape something ne. 5hen at last yo* mae yo*r mo$e, it may ell be

something yo* ne$er heard of 

4n artist stands before an *nfinished pict*re, pondering it, seeing, feeling, bodilysensing it, ha$ing a .... *ppose the artist;s ... is one of some dissatisfaction. 0s that an

emotional reaction, simply a feeling"tone@ Bo indeed. 0mplicit in the ... is the artist;s

training, experience ith many designs, and m*ch else. *t more' the ... is also the

implying of the next line, hich has not yet come. The artist ponders i$ing bodies imply their on next steps. This

implying and shaping of next steps is *s*ally attrib*ted only to repetitio*s processes.

*t e see that the body also taes on the elaborations of =*ite no$el sit*ations, and

then it also implies a next step, and may shape one.

The li$ing body is an ongoing interaction ith its en$ironment8 of co*rse it therefore is

en$ironmental information. The bodily ... can contain information that is not (or not yet)

capable of being phrased. *t can e concei$e of the body so that e co*ld *nderstand

ho it can contain (or be) information@ 0t is not the *s*al *se of the ord

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o is it that the bodily ... has all this information, more than e can thin item by

item, and is also capable of s*ch finely t*ned no$elty@ 4ccording to the *s*al

conception of the physiological body, it co*ld not do any of that. ince it can, let *s try

to thin of a li$ing body in s*ch a ay that it co*ld be information and no$elty.

0f e thin of the li$ing body:not as a piece of merely percei$EF machinery, nor as percei$ing, b*t as interaction ith its en$ironment, then of co*rse, the body 0

en$ironmental information.

4nimals bodies are complex interactions ith their en$ironments. &rom one ancient

 bone one can reconstr*ct not only the hole animal, b*t from its body also the ind of

en$ironment in hich it li$ed. &rom the ind of feet it had one can infer the ind of

gro*nd on hich it mo$ed. &rom its stomach ca$ity one can no hat it fed on and

chased. The body e$en as a dead str*ct*re still contains all that implicit information

abo*t its en$ironment. 5hen ali$e, its bodily life"process is m*ch more implicit

information. 4nd this bodily sentience implies and generates the animal;s next mo$e.

?*ch more arri$es at birth than a blan tablet. The body arri$es already implying its

en$ironment $ery intricately. The h*man infant implies the breast and the mother.

(tem, 19#) /erceptions enter into an already intricate implied en$ironment in hich

the fi$e senses are already related. 0nfants come ith good mothering already implicit,

interpersonal comm*nication already ongoing, the complexity of syntax already in

 place. They need not first be made from perceptions.

7f co*rse e do not no ha$e the body 6*st as it existed before and without  lang*age.

*t that first body still f*nctions no. 4fter and ith lang*age it implies and mo$es

 beyond lang*age.

Ao*r body before lang*age contin*es to li$e also beyond lang*age no, as yo* listen to

me. 5hile yo* hear my ords, yo* are not thining yo*r on ords. Be$ertheless yo*r

li$e body retains ho yo* are, yo*r past and all yo* no. 5hat 0 say comes into all of

that.

0f e *nderstand the body as en$ironmental interaction e need not limit o*rsel$es to

sentient animals. /lants, =*ite itho*t perception are bodily ongoing life processes.

They also imply their on next mo$es.

0n saying this of plants 0 am *sing this conception of o*r interactional body to de$elop aconception of li$ing bodies that co*ld e$ol$e into o*rs. &or a form*lated philosophical

treatment of this ith ne terms, see 4 /rocess ?odel.

Going no the other ay, this conception of li$ing bodies:e$en plants:o*ld explain

hy, if s*ch a body sensed itself, that body"sense o*ld be a $ast amo*nt of

en$ironmental information:and hy, if it li$ed this information forard f*rther, it

co*ld mo$e in ne ays. 4nd then, if s*ch a self"sensing body co*ld also think, and

co*ld *se its bodily ... in its thining, ell, it o*ld alays thin after, with, but with

more than concept*al and lang*age forms. This more o*ld be realistic since it o*ld

be the body"en$ironmental interaction.

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4ll thining in$ol$es the bodily ... to some degree. Tae for example any ordinary

sentence. 0n the middle of it yo* ha$e an *nfinished sense of ho ... Ao* don;t no the

end, and yet, all thro*gh it, as the sentence ends its ay ....

0t has seemed, recently, that there is no lang*age in hich to disc*ss hat is more than

lang*age. ince e find that still f*nctioning all the hile e tal, of co*rse it f*nctionsalso to let me tal abo*t its f*nctioning.

4nd it is also ith s*ch a ... that e thin. 5e pose o*rsel$es some problem or some

chain of tho*ght. There is this, and that, that other, and then 0f e get distracted and lose

hold of the .... e go o$er the familiar gro*nd. This, and that, and that other, and ah ....

That is here ne thining happens.

*t it isn;t a grand mystery. 5e m*st thin ith a ... in many sit*ations e$ery day. E$en

if the sit*ation is only slightly tro*bling, it gi$es *s pa*se. 5e no the ro*tine things

e can say and do, b*t .... o the body is being the sit*ation is more than e can thin 

in concepts or ords. o e better thin ith the .... thin ith the ay the body has,li$es in, is:the sit*ation.

o it is not the case that yo* ha$e only yo*r perceptions of me, that o*r perceptions of

each other are beteen *s. 3ather, e affect each other, bodily and sit*ationally,

hether e sense or see it or not. ?y armth or hostility ill affect yo*r ongoing

 bodily being hether yo* percei$e it or not. Ao* may find it there, if yo* sense ho

yo*r body has the sit*ation.

The bodily ... is realistic. 0t is the interaction, and since the interaction is already

happening, of co*rse it is a possible interaction in the orld. o, of co*rse e can learn

something abo*t reality from it. The ... is alays realistically an interaction and

therefore right abo*t something. 4s therapy shos, it can be chiefly (ne$er entirely) a

 past sit*ation. 0t can be realistic also abo*t something that it nely li$es and maes,

something that has ne$er been done before. o e *nderstand ho the body can thin

 beyond anything e$er form*lated before:ho it senses on the edge of h*man thining.

That is hy 0 enco*rage my st*dents to attend $ery caref*lly to any sense of excitement,

 p*DDlement, conf*sion or *nclear *n"ease, that might come as they read and thin. 5hat

a h*man organism registers is ne$er 6*st nothing, ne$er an indeterminate limbo. 4t first

it seems to be 6*st a*tistic. *t the body is alays already interaction8 it cannot fail to

contain implicit information ith and from hich e can thin. 4ny h*man hoattends to a ... thins on the edge of h*man noledge. 0t does also re=*ire some

concept*al and philosophical sills hich 0 cannot go into, here. 7ne needs at least to

 be familiar ith many theoretical strategies and many traditional mo$es, so as not 6*st

to fall into one ith no reco*rse.

>aying something o*t in distinct parts changes it. >aying it o*t can ill it, b*t not if e

eep the hole ... ith *s as e thin. Then laying o*t can carry the ... f*rther, change it

in a ay that lets it de$elop. 5hen e thin f*rther in this ay, e can also find and

correct errors. &rom a ... there are more"than"logical criteria that let *s no hich

mo$e carries forard, hich line satisfies the design that is not yet. 5e can tell hen

laying a ... o*t

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5e sense hat contin*es o*r plant and animal life, and hat does not. 5e sense hat

next mo$e is st*ltifying, too comfortable, g*iltily a$oidant. 5e can sense hen hat e

thin is gl*ed together, internally closed so that e cannot enter. 5e no hen e

ha$e o$en a thin bridge of s*perficial logic o$er a problem that still remains.

These internal criteria of carrying forard a bodily ... do not ins*re against error, b*tthey do sho that there is error:and therefore also tr*th:in thining ith more than

form.

.2 "he order 

>et *s begin ith the body as e 6*st re"concei$ed it, instead of the traditional order

hich begins ith perception, adds relations or interactions, and then lang*age and

tho*ght. 0 deny that old order. &or example, /eirce called sensations ;Hfirstness.< They

are ass*med to be opa#ue like bits of color, smell, or to*ch. They are 6*st hat they are.

Examine them as deeply as yo* might, in color there is 6*st color. 0 deny that this is

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sense that it is internally intricate. 0t in$ol$es yo*r noledge of philosophy and m*ch

else. 0t is a bodily implying of some speech and tho*ght. 5here do yo* find that@ 0s it

implicit in external percept*al patterns@ Bo. *t if yo* no attend to yo*r bodily sense,

many incipient tho*ghts ...