Human Posture

John A. Schumacher is an Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Science and Technology Studies Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

"I found it fascinating to read and it is quite beautifully written. But I must caution against taking its extreme originality lightly." — Stephen David Ross, State University of New York at Binghamton"I like the originality of the theme. One hears much today about semiotics and the structure of signs, about language, texts, theory, and narrative—but not of posture. Schumacher asserts that posture is the underlying condition for humans (like bees and other animals) having a world, for humans (unlike other animals) being free within it, for humans (like animals) communicating within a world and (unlike animals) inquiring about it. This is an engrossing work. It owes much to M. Merleau-Ponty. The work, however, is strikingly original in its analysis of posture; it is elegantly written and often eloquent; it is contemporary in its references and in the way it addresses the problematic of mind and brain, space and time; and it is a learned work which ranges over many disciplines in a fascinating way. It shows precise knowledge and keen appreciation of many branches of modern science—physics, psychology, linguistics, neurophysiology, and ecology, while at the same time it is deeply concerned with the way that science has alienated us from our bodies and senses by making us think of our bodies solely from the outside in. The sustained and insightful analyses of space and time are particularly rewarding. A great experience." — Patrick Heelan, State University of New York at Stony Brook

• Preface Introduction I. Objectives II. Aleatory Body: Personal Liberation III. Tasks Part One The Origin of Inquiry I. Posture II. Faces III. First Human Faces IV. First Promises V. First Human Voices VI. First Views VII. First Opacity VIII. Origin of Inquiry Part Two The End of Inquiry I. Body II. Classical Analysis: Newton III. Relativistic Analysis: Einstein IV. Relativistic Analysis: Implications V. Quantum Mechanical Analysis: Bohr and Bohm VI. Quantum Mechanical Analysis: Implications VII. End of Inquiry Part Three The Co-Making of Inquiry I. Person II. Sensuality and the Panopticon III. The Panopticon of Everyday Life: The Cell-Like Posture IV. Sensual Friendship V. The Co-Making of Inquiry Bibliography Index