A Study On Shusterman’s Somaesthetics

With both theoretical and practical meanings, Shusterman’s Somaesthetics is the latest product of pragmatism in post-modern society. It is beneficial for both of the intellectuals’research and the aestheticization of everyday life. Due to the absence of a systematic research of Shusterman’s Somaesthetics, the author will try her best to exhibit the overall perspectives of this theory.This essay starts from the research of the body theories before Shusterman’s Somaesthetics, and covers Plato’s Idea, Christian Theology in Middle Ages, Descartes’Rationalism, the will to power of Nietzsche, foucault’s body-history theory and Gilles Deleuze’s talking about body-language and body image. The second chapter is the essence of this essay. During introducing the concept of Somaesthetics, the author emphasizes the revivement and exploration of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten’s aesthetics, which acts as the growing possibility of Shusterman’s Somaesthetics. Shusterman reaffirms Baumgarten’s idea that aesthetics is a subject dealing with perception acquirement and pays attention to perceptual feelings and practical exercises. After that, a brand-new concept and values of Somaesthetics are exhibited. And then Somaesthetics is discussed from the following three aspects: theory, life and practice. In theoretical aspect, Shusterman enlarges the boundary of aesthetic experience by incorporating the general public’s appreciation of pop art and civil culture. Thus objects and the scoop of aesthetics are simultaneously enlarged. Somaesthetics’ meanings and values are also discussed in the view of social politics to expose the limits and transformation placed on bodies by the invisible social and political environment. Free and active bodies are altered into amiable bodies unconsciously. Shusterman’s Somaesthetics aims to recover and improve the perceptual and self-control ability of bodies. Life aspect is also an important agenda of Shusterman to bring philosophy from academic section into life.In this section, Shusterman takes the lives of philosophers such as John Dewy, Michel Foucault and Ludwig Wittgenstein as the aesthetic practices of Somaesthetics, including his own experience of practicing deep meditation. In practice aspect, Shusterman’s study of human bodies is analyzed. He concludes three popular physical exercise methods which are Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Method and Reichian bioenergetics. They are all beneficial guides for Somaesthetics practices. Chapter three talked about the future development of Shusterman’s Somaesthetics. One is to clarify the concept and give authoritative definition of Somaesthetics through the comparative study among Physical Aesthetics, Performance Art and Body Art; the other is to incorporate other scholars’relative theoretical research and physical practices into Somaesthetics, such as Haruki Murakami and Netian Shu.Somaesthetics is vitally different from other philosophical genres by the attention to physical and living practices. This essay stands on the summary of basic achievement in the study of Shusterman’s Somaesthetics, to show readers a comprehensive shape of Somaesthetics.