“Embodied mind theory and process theology lend themselves to an appreciation of metaphorical thinking, which takes concepts from one domain and links them with another, forming what Whitehead calls blended contrasts. The metaphors then become means by which subjects can be understood that could not be understood in more literal thinking. […] But process theology also proposes…that much if not most “meaning” is found in perception and emotion, quite apart from linguistic renditions. Meaning occurs wherever a sense, a felt connection is made between past and future, or between diverse objects of experience that are held together in felt contrasts. Meaning in its various intensities and shadings is felt connection. Human infants make meaning in this way as they explore their environments and establish connections between faces and places; and so do other animals. The point, then, is that meaning does not have to be linguistic; the embodied mind finds and makes meaning in the affective spaces of lived experience, originating in their bodily reception of the world.”

The above passage comes form a wonderful article on Whitehead and Embodied Cognition written by Patricia Adams Farmer.

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Painting above by Dominique Appia

Tags:aestheticsconscioussnessdominique appiaembodied cognitionfeelingmark johnsonpatricia adams farmerprehensionwhitehead