"Moje ciało i ja" - człowiek współczesny w poszukiwaniu własnej tożsamości

Abstract

The present diagnosis of the bodily identity of a contemporary man is discussed in the philosophical and cultural perspective. The author of the paper analyses symptoms of various relationships and attitudes of the modem man to his or her own body. She refers to several influential thinkers, like H. Plessner, A. Jones, J.-F. Lyotard, as well as to the popular artifacts and controversial issues of modem medicine. To capture the typical relationships between “my body” and “I” one has to distinguish three main interpretations of the concept of “my body”: 1) body as the material which can, or should be consciously and intentionally modified, improved etc. (“my body” is external to “I” and mastered by “me”); 2) body as the passive substratum of the experience, as the source of pleasure, joy, pain or any other sensation (“my body” does not differ from “me”); 3) body as its image, that is the virtual after-sight of the particular body and individual sensuality (“my body” is what is perceived to be “my body”). In her essay, the author does not confine herself to commenting on the phenomena of the contemporary Western culture but also refers to some Oriental philosophical ideas of bodily identity which have been gaining increasing popularity in Europe and United States since the early 1960s.