Lawrence Berger

The Politics of Attention and the Promise of Mindfulness (eBook, PDF)

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

It is evident from recent political campaigns, such as that of Donald Trump, that the deployment of attention is crucial for political outcomes. Indeed, Trump's presidency came about in part due to realities that were produced by the media themselves, which required in turn the engagement of public attention. The implication is that the instability and capriciousness that is often associated with attention can be an important influence on the outcomes that are so produced. Drawing on the thought of Martin Heidegger, Lawrence Berger puts forward a new conception of attention as human presence, showing how its state determines the efficacy of public spaces in articulating and achieving visions of the common good. As politicians seek to amass power by capturing attention, citizens can engage in disciplines of attention such as mindfulness in producing a public power that is more appropriately oriented to the welfare of all. Berger argues that the practice of mindfulness can enable enhanced ontological bonds to form between individuals, which can be the basis for more stable and effective political realities. Such bonds are not given structures, but are rather contingent upon the state of attention, which comes about holistically by way of a hermeneutical circle of attention, language, and bodily understanding. This book is a valuable resource for scholars and students of philosophy of mind, political philosophy, phenomenology, and cognitive science.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury eBooks US
• Seitenzahl: 1
• Erscheinungstermin: 27. September 2023
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9798881864682
• Artikelnr.: 74398409

Autorenporträt

Lawrence Berger is a former professor at the Wharton School and currently teaches philosophy at Marist College. His 2015 article "Being There: Heidegger on Why Our Presence Matters" in the New York Times philosophy blog The Stone elicited over 500 comments and was the most shared article on the day of its publication.

Inhaltsangabe

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
PART I. THE METAPHYSICS OF ATTENTION
1. Attention as Extended Presence
2. The Hermeneutical Circle
3. The Ontological Status of Attention
PART II. ATTENTION AND THE SELF
4. Attention as the Manifestation of the Self
5. The Primacy of Attention
6. Attention as The Minimal Self
PART III. ATTENTION AND THE POLITICAL
7. Attention, Language, and World Constitution
8. The Power of Attention
9. Attention as the Way to Being
References
Index
About the Author