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| The Evolution of Body-Subject Concept in Western Philosophy |
| WANG Xiao-hua |
| College of Arts, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518060 |
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Abstract From the time of ancient Greece, Western philosophy constructed concepts of mankind which adored spirit subject. In this schema, body was thought to be inhabited by spirit subject, and was there to assist the latter. However, when such a theory prevailed, a crucial reasoning revealed that the body was a complicated concep: the spirit subject inhabited in human body cannot move in space, but has to realize its wills through the body, therefore, the body is not absolutely passive. Based on this logic, Aristotle and atomists emphasized that the body had the ability to feel and could move in the outside world, and was thus an indispensable subject. Their ideas were enlightening for later philosophers. By modern times, discussions on body -subject concept were sustained by humanism and natural science. Relevant discourses grew increasingly strong, and ultimately developed into a monistic body-subject concept by Karl Marx and Nietzsche. After getting into 20th century, phenomenology, pragmatism and third generation cognitive science all affirm the importance of the body, trying to prove that the body is capable of high-order spiritual activities like reasoning, and established a more detailed body-subject theory. Despite incomplete theoretical construction, it is clear that their philosophy is returning to the body.
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Received: 09 October 2014
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2015, Vol. 32 
