About ‘Aboutness’: Extensionality, Dwelling and the Turn to Language

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

In this essay we explore the elusive idea of aboutness, arguing it is integral not just to how we comport ourselves in the world, but to knowing, thinking and dwelling. Bringing key aspects of language to bear onto the issue of intentionality – such as that of polyphony and intertextuality - our contention is that aboutness is always forming itself immanently to its articulation. This is to say language is already in process of landscaping itself within consciousness. We illustrate how this landscaping imparts a more general form of directedness to intentionality than previously assumed, what we are calling ‘extentionality’. We then go on to elucidate issues here for the arts of dwelling. Critically, we argue that admitting the aboutness of thinking helps foreground relations between knowing and building and the arts of dwelling.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationDemo(s)
Subtitle of host publicationPhilosophy, Pedagogy, Politics
EditorsHugo Letiche, Geoff Lightfoot, Jean-Luc Moriceau
Place of PublicationRotterdam
PublisherSense Publishers
Pages71-84
ISBN (Electronic)9789462096448
ISBN (Print)9789462096424, 9789462096431
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2016

Keywords

  • arts of dwelling

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