THE WHOLENESS OF HUMANITY: COLERIDGE, COGNITION, AND HOLISTIC PERCEPTION

Holistic perception is an antidote to the subject–object divide, a divide that leads to a mechanistic understanding of the world and can see human beings only in terms of parts, without a robust articulation of wholeness. In this piece, I argue that philosopher of science Henri Bortoft offers an emp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inZygon Vol. 57; no. 3; pp. 656 - 674
Main Author Wallace, Rebekah
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge Open Library of Humanities 01.09.2022
Subjects
anthropology
brain
Christianity
cognition
Cognition & reasoning
cognitive science
embodied cognition
embodiment
ontology
perception
personhood
Philosophers
Philosophy
Science
Theology
anthropology
cognition
embodied cognition
Christianity
embodiment
brain
personhood
ontology
perception
cognitive science
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Summary:Holistic perception is an antidote to the subject–object divide, a divide that leads to a mechanistic understanding of the world and can see human beings only in terms of parts, without a robust articulation of wholeness. In this piece, I argue that philosopher of science Henri Bortoft offers an empirically grounded theory, based on consciousness studies, which recasts the problem of the many and the one, offering insight into just such a holistic perception. I further argue that Samuel Taylor Coleridge's philosophy of unity and multiplicity agrees in many respects with that of Bortoft. However, Coleridge draws further implications of his philosophy for Trinitarian theology. I will argue, in line with Bortoft and Coleridge, that perception is a hinge point in this discussion, allowing the move between the discussion of wholeness, subjectivity, and identity. I conclude that a holistic perceptual shift reconstitutes the human person in a way that is theologically significant, especially with respect to Christian Trinitarian doctrine.
Bibliography:Rebekah Wallace is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; e‐mail: rebekah.wallace@theology.ox.ac.uk.
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ISSN:0591-2385
1467-9744
1467-9744
DOI:10.1111/zygo.12792