Self and Body

October 1st, 2006 Fred McVittie Posted in Boundary, Self |

The boundary which demarcates the limits of the self is not fixed, but rather extends and contracts according to the needs of the individual and the circumstances which that individual is in. The material body is an obvious given at which a boundary might be (felt to be) drawn, and the sense of ‘mineness’ which one has about the body is a significant component in the ontology of this boundary. The physical extents of the body provides are routinely transgressed as we feel ourselves contracted inside that body and expanded beyond it. It would be more accurate to say, therefore, that the body does not indicate a true boundary for the self, but rather a median point in the changing extents of self. The tides of the self wash over the body, but that body is neither the high nor low tide mark.