Although The Embodied Mind (1991) drew directly from the tradition of phenomenology, and especially from the work of Merleau-Ponty, in its effort to rehabilitate human experience in the cognitive sciences, the relationship between the enactivist approach and phenomenology was not initially without its tensions. Indeed, TEM raised a number of critiques towards phenomenology, and Husserlian phenomenology in particular. Interestingly, in their introductions to the Revised Edition (2016), the authors reappraised their initial critiques, thus opening new avenues for a dialogue between enactivism and phenomenology. After a brief crash course on the basics of Husserlian phenomenology, the talk considered both these initial critiques and their reappraisals in the latest edition. Dr. Blouin's twin aims were to assess the ongoing relevance of phenomenology for the enactivist project, as well as to stress the unresolved tensions between these two approaches to consciousness. These tensions concern (1) the problem of the relation of theory to practice, on the one hand, and (2) the transcendental dimension of experience, on the other. Dr. Blouin concluded by reemphasizing the common ground between both approaches: their commitment to a non-dualist ontology, which attempts to cut the traditional mind-world dichotomy at its root.   

After having completed a B.A. with Honours in psychology at Bishop's University, Philippe Setlakwe Blouin completed an M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy at the Université de Montréal, in partnership with the Université de Rouen, specializing in Husserlian phenomenology. His doctoral thesis, La phénoménologie comme manière de vivre (Phenomenology as a Way of Life), was published by Zeta Books in 2021 and prefaced by Prof. Natalie Depraz. The main purpose of this work was to develop an understanding of phenomenology that steers it away from naturalist interpretations, and closer towards an existential and contemplative interpretation, centered on the practical ethics of the epoché. In parallel, it develops a nondualist and phenomenalist reading of Husserlian metaphysics. Philippe's ongoing research bears on the unity of consciousness and nature, the philosophy of mysticism and the role of poetry in philosophy. He currently is professor of Humanities at St. Lawrence College in Quebec City.

свернуть