E-Journal of Philosophy of Education:
International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 8, 2023

Corporeality and Education: Reconsidering the basis of'experience' and 'connection'
Satoshi TANAKAThe University of Tokyo
Takuo NISHIMURA
Ritsumeikan University
The Symposium set by the Board of Directors of the 2022 Annual Meeting of theSociety for Philosophy of Education was Corporeality and Education: Reconsidering thebasis of 'experience' and 'connection'. In this Symposium Chiharu Fujii reported on "TheConcept of Communication on Dewey," Nobuo Fujikawa reported on "Ethnometry
Method,'' and Ayaki Monzen reported on "Technological Transformation of CorporealExistence''.
The Concept of Corporeality was often discussed in the 1970s and 1980s (forexample, Hiroshi Ichikawa's Miwake(Physical recognition) theory, Masakazu
Yamazaki's rhythm theory, Bernhart Waldenfels' self-body theory, etc.), which does notappear to be much discussed today. The purpose of this year's Symposium theme is toreconfirm the reality of our corporeality from the perspective of educational philosophy,
based on the social reality of the rapid progress of Information Technology/DigitalTransformation(IT/DX) in addition to the Corona Disaster that has continued since theyears before last.
Corporeality is an ambiguous concept, but at the very least it is distinguished fromthe concept of the body. If we trace the history of European philosophical thought, wefind that the Japanese word "sintai'' can be traced back to the Latin word "corpus" and theGreek word "soma". "Soma" is distinguished from "sarx," which is translated as English"flesh". The Latin translation of this "sarx" is "caro". Soma is the gathering of sarx, andin this sense soma means unity and community. This distinction between thecorporeal/physical of soma/corpus and of sarx/caro is inherited by the distinction between"Körper/Leib" and "Fleisch" in German, and the distinction between "corps" and "chair"
Correspondence:
Satoshi TANAKA, The University of Tokyo. Email: sgtanaka@p.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Takuo NISHIMURA, Ritsumeikan University. Email: takuo@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp

104

S. TANAKA & T. NISHIMURA

in French. And also for example, the meaning of the unity of soma/corpus was inheritedby Henri Bergson's concept of "system sensori-moteurs'' and by Maurice MerleauPonty's concept of "circuit sensori-moteur''.
However, it is also possible to establish an ontological concept of corporeality thatis distinct from the traditional concept of the body as mentioned above. First of all, it is
the real bodily sensation (sensus corporis : perception of the five senses) as an experienceof perception (in addition, anima and esse, which means vitality and activity, also can beconsidered as corporeality). The perception(affectus)of the other person through thisbodily sensation functions as the context of words and conversations (if this acceptanceis poor, the words will become stereotyped and redundant in order to avoid omissions
and misunderstandings). What is produced in the mind by this perception isaffection(affectio). It involves the judgment of right or wrong, and induces(cultura)theimage of transcendence that are not sencible(as sensibilis) but intellectual (asintellegibilis).
When we think in this way, corporeality is an experience of creation that realises aconnection between my feeling "I am here" and "You are there," in other words, theexpanse of "aida"(between) that evokes the feeling that I am with others. In other words,
one's corporeality is not a thing located in physical space, such as a body or an object, buta place to perceive others, to sympathize with others, and to direct intellecual reality ofothers. What is really sensed, for example, the "gestures'' and "facial expressions'' of theother, along with interpretation and inference, creates some kind of recognition of theother (for example, "You are bored'') and responds to the other (for example, "I change
the topic''). However, what is really sensed may also produce sympathy, an emotion thattranscends the distinction between me and others, without interpretation or reasoning, andmay also produce a natural my response to the other person (for example, "caring'' inprimacy). It is not only to human beings, but also to animals and material nature). Whatis really sensed is also the basis for constructing intellectual reality. To be sure, theconstruction of this intellectual reality requires the perception of the real. In other words,
when what is perceived with attention is real, intellectual reality is carefully sought behindit. For example, when there is a real face in front of one's eyes, that reality is thepersonality(uniqueness, spirituality) that people carefully look for behind that face. But
when what is accepted is virtual reality, intellectual reality becomes less sought after. It is
felt as "frustration". For example, when using a webinar, I can see you and hear you, butthey are mostly artificial and unreal. Therefore, there is a sense of absence that you cannot
feel that you are "there". This absence hinders the formation of your conscious reality.
The trigger that creates the desire for intellectual reality is the perception of the real.
Thematic Research: Corporeality and Education: Reconsidering the Basis of “Experience” and “Connection”

Corporeality and Education: Reconsidering the basis of 'experience' and 'connection'

105

This attenuation of the perception of real things also reduces the perceived things to justan piece of information as a temporary proposition. The fact that corporeality is the mainelement that creates the expanse of sensitivity-imagination that transcends informationsuggests that corporeality is the basis of human formation/becoming, which should bereconfirmed in this information-based age.
In the first part of the symposium, three members of the society gave presentations.
Fujii's report examined the flaws in online communication, which have become
quite evident during the COVID-19 pandemic. In his last paper published in "Studies in
the Philosophy of Education" No.124, he opined that, based on J. Dewey's concept of theplurality of the "self" and its integrity, it is possible for us to "continue the conversation"with "incommensurable others" if we have a "translator" who shares a common part ofthe "self" with the others in our community. In this report, he again referred to Dewey's
concept of "empathy" to expound that antagonisms often become more serious in theinternet space because it is difficult to express the plurality of the "self" there. Whileconfirming that Dewey's "empathy" is never the emotional unification but the cognitive"deliberation" of the other, Fujii stated that it is the empathy based on common experience,
sense, and feeling confirmed in "activities exposing bodies each other" that makes thebases of the "continuity of conversation" with others.
Fujikawa’s report was on his project that aimed to measure children's physicalmovements in school to support and modify teachers' practical knowledge with empiricalevidence. He tried to visualize and present practitioners' impressions of children's
physical movements, which may be negated as merely subjective, into reliableknowledge that can be shared and discussed inter-subjectively among teachers to resist
the "corruption pressure of evidence" and control by technocrats. Fujikawa insisted that
his method of Ethnometry observes two restrictions: indexes of measurement must be set
up by the teacher himself/herself, and what is measured must be only the impressions ofchildren's movements, not their bodies or inner states. In a situation where the restrictions
are removed (he imagined science fictionally), children will move uniformly according
to the provided norms and their inner states will be measured by microchips embeddedin their skin. He opined that education should resist such a compulsive pursuit of precise
measurement motivated by the fear of an uncertain future, which is symbolized by"death."Monzen's report was on the theories of corporeality by two philosophers of theKyoto School, Motomori Kimura and Kiyoshi Miki, and focused on their concept of"Gijutsu" (art/technology). Kimura's term "Gijutsu" shows us the double character ofE-Journal of Philosophy of Education: International Yearbook of the Philosophy of Education Society of Japan, Vol. 8, 2023

106

S. TANAKA & T. NISHIMURA

human corporeality; we "have" bodies as "tools," but we "are" bodies, corporeal
existences. A "tool" is the "remote extension" of the body. It works as an extension of thebody; at the same time, it calls to the person who makes something with it. In contrast
with the collaborative character of the "tool," the "machinery" built up as an "objective
body" beyond the "tool" reorganizes human corporeality with its overwhelming power.
Kimura regarded it as the root cause of the crisis of the modern age. Miki understood"Gijutsu" as separation from and confrontation with nature as well as a return to nature,
based on the concept of "historical nature," which he succeeded from Kitaro Nishida.
Miki also paid attention to the "demonic" character of "Gijutsu," in which Monzen tried
to find a possibility to overcome the crisis of the modern age.
After the three presentations, we had a question-and-answer session between thethree presenters and the participants of the symposium. Topics under discussion include
the following themes: How can we realize the negative moments of corporeality, whichcannot be controlled by the mind, and bring about discordance? When discussing
corporeality, do the presenters presuppose the physical, temporal-spatial co-existence?
Should the "empathy" in the sense of Dewey be supported and supplied by educational
guidance? Does the concept of "machinery" in the sense of the Kyoto School include themoment of transcendency?
We are now confronting a situation in which our corporeal existence is beingtransformed irresistibly by a trend referred to as "digital transformation," which is realized
by the Global and Innovation Gateway for All School. It is one of the important tasks forthe philosophy of education to explicate how we can understand the situation, in order
not to be passively affected by the trend. We hope that the symposium helped offer
abundant clues for the task.

Thematic Research: Corporeality and Education: Reconsidering the Basis of “Experience” and “Connection”