10—Everything Mysterious Under the Moon—Social Practices and Situated Holism

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size

View correction statement:

Corrigendum

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Einstein (1954, 10). Also available online at http://sciphilos.info/docs_pages/docs_Einstein_fulltext_css.html

2. Chozan (2006, 133).

3. Kano (2014). My gratitude to Fukasawa Koyo for providing me with this citation.

4. The legacy of his short life, he came to an untimely end at the Battle of the Somme in 1918, goes beyond his medal and this inspiring account. He perfected the ‘Australian crawl’, and ‘played a pivotal role in the development of body surfing and popular surfing culture in Australia’ (Rodwell and Ramsland 2000, 3).

5. For an overview of Asian philosophy in its three main traditions of India, China, and Japan in the context of sport philosophy, see Ilundáin-Agurruza and Hata (2015).

6. Given that the sage and the book are eponymous, the text is referenced in italics as the Zhuangzi.

7. Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZjcTG141rs&spfreload=1

8. Fraser challenges the moral worth of the Cook’s action: if he were not a butcher he would not have to bother with knotty junctures in the carcass of what would otherwise be a living, harmless animal.

9. See http://www.aspworldtour.com/posts/75272/slaters-mind-bending-540-rotation for a video of the feat (accessed 30 December 2014). The closing tongue-in-cheek comment refers to John John Florence, for whom Slater is a mentor figure. John John beat slater to win the Surfer Poll Award, which Slater had won consecutively since 2004. See http://www.grindtv.com/action-sports/surf/post/surfer-poll/ (accessed 12 August 2014).

10. Greek Wrestler Milo of Kroton (sixth century BCE) would be a worthy match in antiquity: He won the wrestling event in six Olympic games and seven Pythian Games. That is, his career spanned 28 years at the highest level. Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey bests this longevity, with seven Olympic appearances. At 52, she was still competing for the Slovenian national squad, having qualified for the 2012 European Championships.

11. Literally, it means ‘along’, ‘predestined affinity’, ‘reason’, or ‘edge’ (Chinese Dictionary, online).

12. The label helps stress the sense that this is done ‘physically’, but it does so redundantly and underscores the very dualism it seeks to overcome, as argued in section 3 (essays 6 and 7).

13. Whitman’s famous stanza reads in Leaves of Grass states, ‘Do I contradict myself?/Very well then I contradict myself, /(I am large, I contain multitudes.)’ (1903, 108).

14. Minamoto’s works, unfortunately not translated into English, fit remarkably well with the thick holism of Skillful Striving. As Heisig explains, Minamoto centers on and differentiates mind from no-mind and their unique relationship to the living body. In his view, artistic refinement, especially in the performing arts ‘mediates between tacit awareness and explicit awareness’ (Heisig 2011, 930). This achievement is fulfilled ‘in no-mind where things cease to be external objects and the subject-object distinction breaks down’ (Ibid.). In the following, I cite from the few pages that Heisig has translated.

15. Essay 8 and Breivik (2013) discuss the importance of these in the context of consciousness and sports.

16. Ortega emphasizes the emotional side, the amorous facet, seeing a plenitude in each thing or person. For Ortega, ‘This is love—the love for the perfection of the beloved’ (Ortega 2004a, 747; 1963, 32). As Marías explains in an endnote, the difference with Spinoza is that Ortega centers on the beloved whereas Spinoza focuses on the lover (Ortega 1963, 166–167). Ortega also argues, contra Spinoza, that love is neither about joy nor the intellectual (2006a, 856–857). As we saw with his analysis of vitality, spirit, and soul, thinking and willing are instantaneous, but love and the emotions, unfold in time (see also Ortega 2006b). This idea is pertinent for coaching and a pedagogy that seeks to cultivate the talents of the student rather than preconceived notions about what should be trained or taught.

17. Intuition is quite different from instinct, of course.

18. For alternative translations see Chuang Tzu and Watson (1968, 97), Höchsmann et al. (2007, 127), and Chuang-Tzŭ and Graham (1981, 98).

19. Not to preclude the possibility that a reader may find an insight that unlocks unparalleled performance, here is the rest of his explanation of spontaneity and no-mind: ‘This is, moreover, like the single full moon shining in the sky while all of the ten thousand rivers and streams contain their own one moon. This is not a matter of the light being divided and then striking the water. If there were no water, there would be no reflection. Again, this is not a matter of the moon being reflected as soon as it is received by the water. Whether it is reflected into ten thousand streams or does not go beyond a single puddle, the moon is neither added to nor subtracted from. And again, it does not select either a large or small body of water. From this you should be awakened to the mysterious function of the essence of the mind’ (Chozan 2006, 133). May it work for others better than for me.

20. As a reminder to readers, the reason for the scare quotes here is that mushin is properly attributed to states of bodymind in Eastern dō. It takes a very high level of integration and operates within a Buddhist framework (Krein and Ilundáin 2014). The author’s personal example with the sparring bout simply illustrates a similar (but much lower) quality of empty mindfulness and performance that may be more relatable to readers.

21. Another reading of Kido’s actions, conceptually complementary, would consider this in the context of instrumental and non-instrumental values (Ilundáin-Agurruza 2014).

22. These are easily sidestepped given that reflection is supposed to precede or follow performance or can be integrated as part of a training program. A different and unrelated worry is whether self-reflection in the sense of self-monitoring or self-consciousness affects performance. Essay 8 and Ilundáin-Agurruza (forthcoming-a) deal with the latter.

23. The case can be made that, as a means, it can be used to improve performance and thus lead to excellence, particularly through the guidance of a coach. But, this is external to the athleticism of the performance; it remains a satellite in the orbit of excellence, not an integral feature within its atmosphere.

24. As Hutto and Myin explain it, ‘The difference between these claims is that the Extended Mind Hypothesis (EMH) doesn’t rule out the assumption that biologically basic cognition is, by default, brain-bound. Thus, prominent versions of EMH assume that only in exceptional cases—for example, when non-bodily add-ons are required in order to make the achievement of certain cognitive tasks possible—do minds extend. By contrast, those who endorse REC and thus the strongest version of the Embodiment Thesis assume that minds are already, in their basic nature, extensive and wide-ranging’ (2013, 7).

25. McFee argues that because ‘there are standards of excellence from the beginning’ MacIntyre’s ideas ‘cannot explain the normativity inherent in a practice but, instead, depend on it’ (McFee 2004, 80). Even if McFee seeks to find a non-circular philosophical foundation for the standards, perhaps a historical approach can help to bring meaning into the picture, as developed in this essay.

26. This examination of means and ends closely follows closely the discussion in Ilundáin-Agurruza (2014, 60–61).

27. More provocatively, he applies the ‘principle of universality’ to apply this to the micro-level of actions so as to claim that our actions are never instrumentally valuable. The points raised to above do not depend on this one.

28. Today McNamee would put it thus: ‘we strive for maximum efficiency in a purposefully inefficient system’ (Personal Communication, 23 February 2025).

29. The version cited is from his forthcoming Sport? A Nietzschean Appreciation (forthcoming). It is modified version from his Nietzsche and Sport (1998), where the citation above, with slight changes, can be found on pages 128–129.

30. See The Online Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek-English Lexicon (2009).

31. In Ilundáin-Agurruza (2000), it is developed in the context of aesthetics and the ontology of artworks as constituted by interpretation; an ‘Attendant Aesthetics’ focuses on the work of art, not the artist or audience. This is paralleled in the argument above.

32. There are parallels with Husserl’s intentionality (1998). For one, both are about directing our attention to what is in front of us, and they structure our experience. But, Husserl’s intentionality is purely intellectual. In fact, this presupposes an attitude of attendance: interacting with the world of ideas, once we bracket the existence of phenomena means that already we care about the phenomenon under consideration, and also about the very phenomenological method itself. It underlies any and all of our engagements, which we undertake because we care in the first place. In this way, this agrees with Heidegger’s critique of his old mentor, and overlaps with his concept of care (sorge) (1962). Heidegger is concerned with the ontological level, not the ontic, and his analysis centers primarily on anxiety and the everyday. Nonetheless, attendance is not an abstract ontological category, but rather, performative and incorporated into and modulated by our bodymind in felt resonance not just with the other but the full environment that is alive for us.

33. ‘Service’ as complete observance of duty can be problematic. This imbalance plays out most dramatically in Bushidō during the Tokugawa era. The close bonds within the brotherhoods of warriors built around their leaders, that the Confucian ideal of filial piety underwrote, meant absolute duty to one’s master or father. The imperative, all-binding duty to one’s superiors, giri (義理), is opposed by ninjo (人情), which is an individual’s conscience and feelings. Since samurai (侍) comes form saburau (侍う), to serve by one’s side, their duty to follow orders sometimes meant carrying out obviously immoral acts that might clash with the warrior’s personal beliefs. Yamada Yōji’s The Hidden Blade brilliantly plays out this theme (2004). Attendance is about serving, but not blindly.

34. As Marías explains in an endnote to the edition of Ortega’s Meditations on Quixote, the difference with Spinoza is that Ortega centers on the beloved whereas Spinoza focuses on the lover (Ortega 1963, 166–167). Ortega also argues, contra Spinoza, that love is neither about joy nor the intellectual (2006a, 856–857). As we saw with his analysis of vitality, spirit, and soul (essay 4), thinking and willing are instantaneous, but love and the emotions, unfold in time (Ortega 2006b). Minamoto’s ideas on kata are again applicable here.

35. Sometimes, it can be evoked to the exclusion of verbalization. George Steiner remarks that when he visited sculptor Henry Moore in his studio, ‘if he talked politics, it was not too pleasant, because most of the time he said nonsense. But it was enough to cover one’s ears and contemplate his hands to realize what a total and absolute intelligence is: Henry Moore’s hands’ (Steiner and Ladjali 2005, 95, my translation).

36. Koan rather than ‘puzzles to be solved or intuited’ as popularly believe, ‘are expressions of awakening’ (Fisher 2015). They are studied and pondered, but each of these marks the moment of enlightenment of a Zen student. Even if they are verbal articulations, they are nonsensical, so the very role of language is actually questioned.

37. Incidentally, this framework works for what I label ‘paradoxes of self-defeat’: those in which we are supposed to desire desirelessness, expressly abandon all thought, willfully relax, and similar. Suppressing the self (and its wants and needs) opens the space for the activity itself.

38. See also the following alternative translations, Chuang-Tzŭ and Graham 1981, 124; Chuang Tzu and Watson 1968, 269; Zhuangzi and Ziporyn 2009, 104.

39. Family name is given first, as customary in Japanese culture.

40. For Ortega, this landscape is species specific and entails a mutual adaptation of human or animal to landscape/environment and vice versa. Here, he follows the ideas of von Uexküll regarding the umwelt, see 2004a, and also, 2005. For a parallel use of von Uexküll’s ideas see Sheets-Johnstone, 2009, esp. 139, 172, and 286. Ortega’s delineation of the lifeworld/landscape can be found in 1963 and 2004b.

41. The other three are: (1) geopolitically, the fighting prowess of the Japanese and the inherent difficulty in invading islands fostered an isolation to pursue their own way, (2) the symbolic value of the sword, the samurai’s soul, which also amalgamated pragmatism and usefulness, and (3) a general reaction against external ideas, and, relevant for our purposes. To these we should add a sixth one, the underlying Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist, and Shintō worldviews, which directly impacted their warrior ways and honor code.

42. Others validate these findings. Dan Zahavi, arguing against the theory-theory of mind, discusses how infants after 24 hours can discriminate between external tactile sensations and proprioceptive double-touch sensations (2004). He also cites research that supports the idea that between two and six months of age we might be said to be in the most social period in our life, with the social smile in place and a preference for moving objects versus static ones (Ibid.; see also Gallagher 2007, 2009).

43. An alternative critique of communitarianism from within is possible when considering East Asian traditions, specifically those influenced by Confucian values, which bring to the table non-democratic and non-liberal stances. For an analysis of this in the context of a critical examination of Olympism see Hsu and Ilundáin (forthcoming).

44. This example is sadly and starkly all too relevant, as the recent scandal at USA Swimming makes patently clear; Sturtz’s (2014) exposé could serve as a case study on how individual and institutional corruption has led to a pandemic and broken coaching system with many abused swimmers.

45. See also Ilundáin-Agurruza, Fukasawa, and Takemura (2013) for a discussion of pragmatism and Japanese philosophy and Watsuji’s ideas.

46. The kindness may also harm the runner if he loses by a wide margin. Under the usual framework, it is disappointment either way: either he does not compete and is disheartened or he is humiliated and thus disillusioned. But, being young and dedicated means we can let our kindness guide us without flouting fairness: we can be explicit that we will work with them in earnest so they can improve enough to compete next time around. Wallace’s example, from which this one is adapted, centers on academics (2009, 114–115, 127).

47. The 2009 essay is an expanded version of the original 1981 piece.

48. She examines a variety of perspectives on ‘insides’, from those we inhabit as caves, to our ontogenetical experience of them (e.g. a mouth) (2009), our breath, and shadows (367–378). Our use of the ‘inward perspective’ is aligned with hers, which nowhere suggests a privacy of mental life or meanings.

49. Following scholarly practice regarding this work, section number instead of page number is used.

50. The explanation and formalization of the argument are co-authored with Garrett Thomson (see also Thomson 2003b). The application to sport and kinesthesia is my own.

51. Of course, there is much that goes on inwardly that we are unaware of, valves opening and closing in our veins and arteries, chemicals rushing, electrical impulses, etc. Even if they are processes, these are not inward sensations, for we do not feel them. As such they are beyond any putative status as inner in the sense we would speak of inward sensations. Curiously, these are phenomena we can learn about and describe, but we do so only externally, through medical and scientific observation and procedures.

52. See also Höchsmann, Guorong, and Zhuangzi (2007, 264).

53. See Ilundáin-Agurruza (2011) for a recursive integration of play and literature as part of the philosophical process to understand the phenomenon of sports, play, and the imagination in the context of childhood and play.

54. Adapting a literary device in Calvino’s (1981) brilliant novel If on a winter’s night a traveler.