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11 - Body Self-Awareness: Multiple Levels or Dynamical Gestalt?

from Section 4

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2020

By
Shaun Gallagher
Edited by
Kenneth S. Kendler ,
Josef Parnas  and
Peter Zachar
Kenneth S. Kendler
Affiliation:
Virginia Commonwealth University
Josef Parnas
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
Peter Zachar
Affiliation:
Auburn University, Montgomery
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Summary

This chapter reviews some central issues concerning body self-awareness, the sense of ownership, and how these phenomena are modulated in psychopathology. I argue that various aspects of body self-awareness can be organized in a relatively coherent manner by thinking of them in terms of dynamical gestalts. Taking this approach moves us away from thinking of these issues as involving multiple or different levels, or conceiving of them under hierarchical descriptions that refer to ‘top-down’ versus ‘bottom-up’ processes. Thinking of body self-awareness on the model of a dynamical gestalt allows us to see how different forms of pre-reflective and reflective self-awareness are related in a more holistic fashion.

Keywords

body self-awarenesssense of ownershipsense of agencylevels of analysisdynamical systemsdepersonalizationschizophrenia
Type
Chapter
Information
Levels of Analysis in Psychopathology
Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives
 , pp. 131 - 159
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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