The Sphere of Attention - Context and Margin

The phone call came mid-afternoon in February of 1996. The program chair for the annual meeting for the Southern Society of Philosophy and Psychology wanted to make sure he had the facts right. "This is somewhat unusual..." he began. "You're a philosophy professor who wants to present to psychologists in the psychology portion of the meeting." "That's right." "Well your paper was accepted for that part of the program but the others just wanted me to check and make sure that's where you want to be presenting." "That's right." Reassured, the professor wished me luck and said good-bye. In my session at the meeting, I was the last to present. As my time approached, the medium-sized room slowly became crowded. I dreamed that these psychologists had left their other meetings early to make sure to catch my presentation on the use of metaphors in attention research. As I arose to present I noticed that the half-full room had become standing room only! Finally, after years of feeling as if I was struggling alone in promoting and defending a phenomenology of attention, I had an eager audience for my message. My persistence had paid off. I delivered my message with passion.

List of contents

The Sphere of Attention is Theme, Context, and Margin.- Empirical Evidence for the Sphere of Attention.- Transformations in Attending.- Gurwitsch and Husserl on Attention.- Subjectivity and the Sphere of Attention.- Morality and the Sphere of Attention.- Conclusion.

Summary

Uses the empirical research to illustrate how attention is organized according to gestalt-phenomenological principles inside and outside the focus of attention. This book classifies how attention shifts, and argues that self-awareness, reflection, and even morality, are best thought of as dynamic transformations in the sphere of attention.

Product details

• Authors: P Sven Arvidson, P. S. Arvidson, P. Sven Arvidson
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 14.10.2005
• EAN: 9781402035715
• ISBN: 978-1-4020-3571-5
• No. of pages: 218
• Dimensions: 210 mm x 16 mm x 297 mm
• Weight: 784 g
• Illustrations: XII, 218 p.
• Series: Contributions To Phenomenology; Contributions to Phenomenology
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Psychology > Theoretical psychology; C, Philosophie des Geistes, Ethics, Ethik und Moralphilosophie, Phenomenology, Phänomenologie und Existenzphilosophie, Philosophy of Mind, morality, Ethics & moral philosophy, Behavioral Science and Psychology, cognitive psychology, Moral Philosophy and Applied Ethics, Phenomenology & Existentialism