Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning: A Philosophical and Psychological Approach to the Subjective (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) by Eugene Gendlin

by Eugene T. Gendlin

This groundbreaking work speaks from the frontiers of philosophy. In Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning, Eugene Gendlin examines the edge of awareness, where language emerges from nonlanguage. In moving back and forth between what is already verbalized and what is as yet unarticulated, he shows how experiencing functions in the transitions between one formulation and the next. A whole array of more than logical "characteristics" enables us to examine as well as to employ this new kind of thinking, which is not merely conceptual because it begins from the intricacy of felt meaning and returns to it again and again.

Experiencing and the Creation of Meaning addressed the unavoidable variety of conceptual formulations and other questions that have now become central.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published August 20, 1997

About the author

Eugene T. Gendlin is an American philosopher and psychotherapist who developed ways of thinking about and working with living process, the bodily felt sense and the 'philosophy of the implicit'. Gendlin received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Chicago where he also taught for many years. He is best known for Focusing and for Thinking at the Edge, two procedures for thinking with more than patterns and concepts.

Source: Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jan Höglund · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a most interesting book. Eugene Gendlin examines the edge of awareness, where language emerges from non-language. This book is a philosophical work. Gendlin explores how concepts relate to experiencing. He adds a body of theory that refer to experiencing, and that can grasp the way in which experiencing functions.

We can think everything more truly if we think with attention to how we think. Thinking employs more than conceptual logic. This means that we can let our next step of thought come from experiential feedback.

Experiencing underlies every moment of living. It is a pre-conceptual and supra-logical order. Actual experience is largely missed when interpreted through stereotyped concepts. Concepts are abstractions of living experience. They can refer to experiencing but cannot fully represent it.

Change occurs through experiencing. Symbolized meanings change in interaction with experiencing. Meaning is something felt or experienced. Felt meaning is present whenever something occurs that have meaning. The exploration of feeling develops on its own power.

Symbols and felt meanings function together in different ways. Meanings are formed in the interaction of symbols and felt meanings. The pre-conceptual is not determined by the conceptual. The intellect depends on the functions of felt meaning. All logical rules are formulations that could have been different. Many possible specifications can symbolize the same felt meaning.

Experiencing is the total of experienced meaning. Experiencing is multiple and non-numeric. It can be specified as one or as many experiences. One cannot create new meanings without experiencing. New meanings are partly determined by all present meanings. Metaphors create new meanings. Concepts are metaphoric. Meaning arises in symbolic interaction with felt experiencing.

It is vitally important to refer directly to experiencing. Experiencing always exceed what can conceptualized and communicated. Experience refers to content, while experiencing denotes something concretely felt, whether conceptual content is explicitly known or not. No one can conceptualize all possible meanings of an experience.

This book is a groundbreaking philosophical work. Eugene Gendlin considers felt experiencing in its own right. He explores how logical order can relate concretely to felt experience. His approach makes philosophical analysis of experiencing and the creation of meaning possible. It's a most interesting book, but it's also a very difficult book to read.

[Lukasz]

recommendation: [Developmental Thinking Shout-out to CFAR - LessWrong 2.0](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/GEkoj...)

[Icey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gendlin's theory of experiencing is rooted in the idea that human beings have an innate ability to create meaning and understand the world around us. He believed that this meaning-making process is not just a cognitive function, but also involves our bodily sensations and emotions. In other words, meaning is not just something we create in our heads, but also something we experience in our bodies.

Gendlin developed a technique called Focusing, which is based on the principles of experiencing. Focusing is a process of paying attention to the bodily felt sense of a particular issue or problem, and using this awareness to gain insight and clarity. Through Focusing, individuals are able to tap into their inner wisdom and intuition, and develop a deeper understanding of their emotions and experiences.

Gendlin also believed that experiencing is important in the context of therapy. He argued that therapy should not just focus on the content of a client's thoughts and feelings, but also on the process of experiencing itself. By paying attention to the bodily sensations and emotions that underlie a client's thoughts and feelings, therapists can help clients develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their experiences.

Overall, Gendlin's work on experiencing highlights the importance of developing a deeper awareness of our bodily sensations and emotions in the process of creating meaning and personal growth. By paying attention to these subtle cues, we can tap into our inner wisdom and intuition, and develop a deeper understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

[Sky · Rating 1 out of 5]

While some of the ideas are very interesting, this book is way too complex. I can take some tougher nuts to crack, but i hate to have to re-read passages to grasp what the author is trying to say. Eventually i gave up reading it.
It is also way too abstract, some simple illustrating examples would have helped a lot.

[Romeo Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

His newer work supersedes this. Interesting academically.