Place and being

Article


Cannatella, H. 2007. Place and being. Educational Philosophy and Theory. 39 (6), pp. 622-632. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2007.00319.x
TypeArticle
TitlePlace and being
AuthorsCannatella, H.
Abstract

Do places matter educationally? When Edward Casey remarks: ‘The world is, minimally and forever, a place-world’, we might take this statement as presupposing without argument that places exist as a given, that we know what a place is, a point that Aristotle would have never taken for granted and in fact neither does Casey. I find Casey's remark that we live in ‘a place-world’ an immensely rich turn of phrase, forever packed with an infinite and diverse range of landscapes reflecting our being in the world, a maze of wonders, an orchestra of different subtle sounds where places are witnessed, mimicked and created. We submerge ourselves in the gamesome labour of place and learn to perceive and quiver in its light. I will discuss through a phenomenological perspective the self-givenness of place experience, the unfolding of a life that is an aspect of one's own space and horizon. The relationship between place and being and the aesthetic way that I discuss this is central to this paper's analysis, a position that is at odds with those who favour a more macro theoretical perspective that eclipses place. My analysis focuses on a philosophical exploration of being-in-place, where place becomes being. Much is made of the thought that place is primarily an aesthetically lived experience where we create ourselves. An attempt is made to show how an embodied sense of being in place transforms places of learning. The paper attempts to acknowledge the kind of governing power of being that place interconnections can enclose, personalize and create.

Research GroupWork and Learning Research Centre
PublisherPergamon
JournalEducational Philosophy and Theory
ISSN0013-1857
Publication dates
PrintOct 2007
Publication process dates
Deposited24 Jun 2009
Output statusPublished
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-5812.2007.00319.x
LanguageEnglish
Permalink -

https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/81v8x

  • 22
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 0
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month

Export as