Philosophy of the Body

Perspective

Welcome to philosophyofthebody.com.

The Philosophy of the body is classified as philosophical speculation, and is used in hypothesis generation for empirical studies of objectification theory. The Philosophy of the Body comprises a series of social and psychological relationships regarding the objectification of human beings, and may be viewed in a number of layouts - each focusing on a particular kind of relation. These include the following;

• Part A - Subject Affected (objectified, witness, etc - the subject affected based on the rationale provided)
• Part B - Argument Type (social, psychological, etc)
• Part C - Argument Side (the immediate effect for the subject affected based on the rationale provided; positive or negative)
• Part D - Relevant Topic (in contemporary culture)
• Part E - Subject/Object Subjected (whether one or more persons are subjected to something or someone based on the rationale provided)
• Part F/G - Effect (objectification theory relationships based on POB Simple categorisations)

The latest version of the Philosophy of the Body (23 October 2012c) is located here;

Philosophy of the Body - Part A - Arrangement by Affected
Philosophy of the Body - Part B - Arrangement by Type
Philosophy of the Body - Part C - Arrangement by Side
Philosophy of the Body - Part D - Arrangement by Tag/Topic
Philosophy of the Body - Part E - Arrangement by Subjection
Philosophy of the Body - Part F - Arrangement by Effect
Philosophy of the Body - Part G - Arrangement by Effect (Reversed)

The latest version of POB Simple (23 October 2012c) is located here;

Philosophy of the Body - Part A - Arrangement by Affected
Philosophy of the Body - Part B - Arrangement by Type
Philosophy of the Body - Part C - Arrangement by Side
Philosophy of the Body - Part D - Arrangement by Tag/Topic
Philosophy of the Body - Part E - Arrangement by Subjection
Philosophy of the Body - Part F - Arrangement by Effect
Philosophy of the Body - Part G - Arrangement by Effect (Reversed)
The Philosophy of the Body has been converted to POB Simple in the tradition of simple.wikipedia.org

A recent snapshot of the Philosophy of the Body in PDF/ODF format may be found here;

Philosophy of the Body - Part A - Arrangement by Affected Draft (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (ODT)}
Philosophy of the Body - Part B - Arrangement by Type Draft (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (ODT)}
Philosophy of the Body - Part C - Arrangement by Side Draft (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (ODT)}
Philosophy of the Body - Part D - Arrangement by Tag/Topic Draft (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (ODT)}
Philosophy of the Body - Part E - Arrangement by Subjection Draft (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (ODT)}
Philosophy of the Body - Part F - Arrangement by Effect Draft (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (ODT)}
Philosophy of the Body - Part G - Arrangement by Effect (Reversed) Draft (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (ODT)}
Philosophy of the Body - Concept Map Snapshot (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (SVG) (CXL) (CMAP)}
POB Simple - Concept Map Snapshot (23 Oct 12c) ^{(PDF) (SVG) (CXL) (CMAP)}
Concepts map files derived from CmapTools - Institute for Machine and Human Cognition
Document files are in ODT format - Open Document Format (OpenOffice.org)

The POB Formatter software (wiki text generator) may be found here;

POB Formatter (23 Oct 12c) ^(CPP)

Note that Audio Recordings of the Philosophy of the Body have been conducted by The Order Against the Objectification of Women (a non-secular body with religious affiliation).

Philosophical Connections

The Philosophy of the Body can (in retrospect) be summarised by taking Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics (~325 B.C.), and integrating his concept of true friendship (appreciation of virtue) with his concept of rational sexual relations (self-controlled and non-subjugated).

This is not to say that this idea was not expressed by Aristotle himself, but it appears to have been done so in a somewhat limited fashion, probably subject to social constraints at the time (including conditions for the growth and experience of another's capacity for virtue);

"And for these reasons this Friendship is thought to combine the profitable and the pleasurable: it will be also based upon virtue if they are good people; because each has goodness and they may take delight in this quality in each other"

Secondarily, the Philosophy of the Body argues that the natural bodily pleasures (eg food) cannot be equated because some involve other people.

The logic above is either rejected or unconsidered by Aristotle, where he further uses their presumed equality as a basis for arguing their necessity. It is clear Aristotle himself struggles to argue this point, using phrases (translated) such as "Homer says...", "(which answer to this description)", "Granting...", "Perhaps it even follows... (let us assume)... per se", "May we not say...".

Thirdly, the disintegration of true friendship and sexual relationship also encourages objectification (although Aristotle's work does not of itself imply this, certainly not in the context of his other arguments - ie, rationality, self-control, and self-mastery).

It is therefore recommended to read Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, as it may form well as an introduction to both the Philosophy of the Body and the tolerance of objectification.

For those concerned with some of Arisotle's philosophical assumptions, it is best to become equated with various models of free will (and determinism). It is also necessary to accept our inherited belief in the significance of our own awareness - our ego being based upon belief in our own unique existence (ie, see Non-reductive Physicalism). It should also be noted as a given, that the authority of human reason must also be accepted as a premise (as no argument can can be made, scientific or otherwise, without this). Furthermore, it should also be noted that his work has unintended implications for civil rights such as slavery, having limited knowledge of the influence of society (versus nature) on the development of a civilised being. The Philosophy of the Body by contrast uses less assumptions than Arisotle with respect to philosophy of mind, and accepts biological evolution as a physical model for the development of the human body.

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