Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
18
wasprobablyeffective,sincetheelephantwasacommonsightandsuchgrave
(butentirelypredictable)“misrepresentations”ofitmusthaveseemedludicrous.
Nowadays,thestoryissometimesusedtoillustratethe“perspectivism”ofsci-
ence:particular“takes”onrealityarelimited,wecanonlyseewhatisrevealed
fromourpartialperspective.
Eventhoughitseemstruethatourcognitivepredicamentisbestdescribedas
gropinginthedark–agoodreasonforthelastingattractionoftheelephantstory
–theparabledoesnotgototheheartofthematter.Namely,howcanwereveal
thetrueshapeofreality(orcutnatureatitsjoints)?Thatisso,first,becausethe
elephantisanexampleof“middle-sizedrygoods”(JohnAustin’sexpression).
Assuch,itcanbedirectlyapprehended(unlessoneisblind–thenitturnsout
tobeoversizedforanapprehensionatonego).Moreimportantly,second,the
storypresentsanunsuccessfulidentificationofsomethingalreadyknown.Itdoes
notgetinfocusthemorefundamentalproblems:howcanwerevealanythingat
all?;howcanweidentifysomethingwedonotknow?Bothquestionsareonthe
hermeneuticalagenda.
Iwillreturntothelatteroneinthenextsection(0.2.),whenpresentingthe
issueofcategorization.Asfortheformerone,itisclearlyrelatedtothefunction-
ingofthesenses.Theelephantstoryisnotveryhelpfulinthisrespect,sinceit
merelyplaysthelimitationsofonesense(touch)againstagreaterrecognitory
potential(inthecontextoftheactivity)ofanotherone(sight).Adifferentexam-
ple(providedbypsychologists)couldbemorerelevant.Letusimagineablind
personusingastickforthefirsttimetofindherwayaround.Suchanactivitywill
beinitiallyexperiencedastapping.Butafterawhile,thestickwillbecome“part
ofthebody”,anextensionofthehand“meeting”thingswithinreach.Assuch,
thestickisintegratedintothe“bodyschema”1andincreasesthepowerofone
sensorychannel(touch)tosuchanextentthatitcanserveasareplacementof
thesensewechieflyrelyonwhenmovingaround(sight).Thisexampleshowsat
leasttwoconditionsoftheprocessof“revealing”things.First,itispossibleonly
asactiveexploration:primarily,asamovementdirectedatagoal.Tappingcould
beintegratedintoanynumberofactivities.Itistransformedinto“sight”ofakind
onlywhenemployedinthisrole.Thistransformationinvolvesamiracleofsorts:
onegetsaccesstorealityinanewway,2something“appears”asaresultofone’s
specialinvolvement(thismiracleisatthecentrenotonlyofperception,butalso
linguisticexpression).Second,themiracleispossiblebecausethestick(andthe
veryactivityoftapping)“concealsitself”,leading“directly”tophenomena.We
canbecomeawareofthingsbecausewenormallystopbeingawareofourrevela-
toryengagementswithreality.Asaresult,allperception(andsymbolicexpres-
sion)leadstoakindof“self-forgetting”:one’sroleintheprocessofrevelationis
1Merleau-Ponty’snotion.SeethediscussioninMorris2004.
2Ofcourse,notentirelynew:inthiscasethestickextendsthepotentialoftouch.Themorefoun-
dationalquestionconcernsthegenesisofanewsense(anewchannelofrevealingreality).