Difficult birth of the agent. Memory of the body, identity and social competence

Abstract

Body memory is a relatively new philosophical notion, entangled in interiorization of the past – paradoxically this entanglement liberates the individual from the dictature of the present flow and enables her/his autonomy. The author intends to show that this apparent ensnarement, with all its difficult genesis, makes us responsible, active agents, influencing our environment. To achieve this objective, she chooses to describe the painful and ambiguous process of training and drilling the body, immersing us in social patterns, and thus in the living past. This path leads us – a paradox again – to the arduous and painstaking rediscovery of the issue of subject. There is still hope that we can recuperate this vanishing notion, reinterpreting the most essential classical themes of philosophy, such as time and transcendentality. But the subject matter remains opaque, and requires further reflection.