Humans tend to seek their identity as entities existing over a period of time by making narrative... more Humans tend to seek their identity as entities existing over a period of time by making narratives. The paper argues that seeking diachronic self-identity through narratives or stories results in the self-experience being one of separation or alienation from the real world. This happens because language is primarily a form of secondary representation, and the means by which we attempt to find identity often appear in the form of narratives. The dominance of the metaphor of life as a journey shows this. The remedy is to reduce the hold of narrativity by making selfexperience fundamentally episodic.
Epistemic injustice is a matter of not doing justice to the knowledge claims of a person, and it ... more Epistemic injustice is a matter of not doing justice to the knowledge claims of a person, and it is pervasive in our everyday interactions. It can be traced to the susceptibility of the human mind to cognitive biases and distortions. The paper discusses some ways proposed to mitigate epistemic injustice and suggests that this endeavor requires efforts in more dimensions. The paper tries to demonstrate that the existing efforts to combat epistemic injustice need to be complemented by looking into the very manner in which the self is automatically conceptualized. A shift from the remembering or narrative mode of understanding oneself to the experiential or episodic one will help contain misleading biases and reduce epistemic injustice. Practices such as mindfulness can help enormously in this task.
This study seeks to argue that the embodied approach to cognition provides a comprehensive theore... more This study seeks to argue that the embodied approach to cognition provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to revise some of our educational practices. Any educational activity presupposes some underlying assumption about human nature. Current dominant mainstream educational setup is based upon disembodied accounts of the human mind, which creates a rift between learners and their environment. It results in exam-oriented and achievement-based learning which is not conducive for the development of critical thinking and exploratory mindset among children. On the other hand, an embodied approach stresses the role of the full body and the rest of the environment in the learning process, and this is of immense relevance to devise better pedagogical practices. In this study, we shall try to explain how embodiment can help reduce the psychological gap between the learner and the environment, thereby making education more integrated and inherently meaningful.
The history of wisdom starts with human civilization. However, scientific exploration to understa... more The history of wisdom starts with human civilization. However, scientific exploration to understand its nature is hardly 50 years old. Theoretical understanding grasped through ancient literature and historical account suggest cultural diversity in the conception of wisdom. This study tried to overview the wisdom concept from different cultural perspectives. Two databases (APA PsycArticles® and PubMed) were explored for English journal articles with an implicit (or mix of implicit and explicit) method to understand the concept of wisdom. A total of 3828 articles were screened, and nine were selected for the final review. Empirical studies exploring wisdom conception mainly represented North American, European and Asian perspectives. Overall, it was found that very few studies have explored cultural conception and cross-cultural understanding of wisdom empirically. Empirical explorations are in their initial stage. Findings suggest there is an overlap in wisdom conception from one cu...
The paper seeks to argue that the feeling of being part of a larger whole, considered to be a maj... more The paper seeks to argue that the feeling of being part of a larger whole, considered to be a major feature of spiritual experience in some traditions, amounts to a change in the way the self is pre-reflectively understood. Further, the paper argues that some recent developments in the study of cognition support the case for such a revision in self-conception, and this can be used to build up a secular understanding of spirituality. The paper proceeds by making use of Abraham Maslow's account of peak experience along with some accounts of both ancient and contemporary forms of spirituality to argue that the feeling of being part of a larger whole amounts to a significant shift from the separative self-conception implicit in everyday behavior. Subsequently, it is argued that some extant theories on cognition point at the illusory nature of separative self-conception.
The paper seeks to argue that different ways in which the self is understood, even if radically d... more The paper seeks to argue that different ways in which the self is understood, even if radically distinct from one another, are cases of different narratives. This is done by appealing to conceptual metaphor theory. The paper begins by briefly explaining the difference between the minimal and narrative self and then argues that even radically different ways of understanding the self are cases of different narratives arising out of a metaphorical understanding of abstract concepts.
This paper seeks to argue that advances in the study of freewill and responsibility are directly ... more This paper seeks to argue that advances in the study of freewill and responsibility are directly relevant to jurisprudence. Following Daniel Dennett attempts to discredit the existence of freewill with the help of experiments can be checked by arguing that freedom should be understood as something that has evolved over time rather than being a pre-existent feature of our species. The major function served by freedom is to ensure responsibility for actions. This understanding of freedom as something that evolved to enhance responsibility suggests that freedom can be developed further. This can be understood as enhancing the ability to follow social norms by overcoming factors that limit responsibility. Jurisprudence has to take into account the ability to follow norms as a variable, even within the category of adults, and treat violations accordingly. Further, efforts to enhance the capacity to be free from habitual reactions need to be made part of education, and the state has to focus on this aspect without which the task of ensuring adherence to law of citizens will remain incomplete.
Humans tend to seek their identity as entities existing over a period of time by making narrative... more Humans tend to seek their identity as entities existing over a period of time by making narratives. The paper argues that seeking diachronic self-identity through narratives or stories results in the self-experience being one of separation or alienation from the real world. This happens because language is primarily a form of secondary representation, and the means by which we attempt to find identity often appear in the form of narratives. The dominance of the metaphor of life as a journey shows this. The remedy is to reduce the hold of narrativity by making selfexperience fundamentally episodic.
Epistemic injustice is a matter of not doing justice to the knowledge claims of a person, and it ... more Epistemic injustice is a matter of not doing justice to the knowledge claims of a person, and it is pervasive in our everyday interactions. It can be traced to the susceptibility of the human mind to cognitive biases and distortions. The paper discusses some ways proposed to mitigate epistemic injustice and suggests that this endeavor requires efforts in more dimensions. The paper tries to demonstrate that the existing efforts to combat epistemic injustice need to be complemented by looking into the very manner in which the self is automatically conceptualized. A shift from the remembering or narrative mode of understanding oneself to the experiential or episodic one will help contain misleading biases and reduce epistemic injustice. Practices such as mindfulness can help enormously in this task.
This study seeks to argue that the embodied approach to cognition provides a comprehensive theore... more This study seeks to argue that the embodied approach to cognition provides a comprehensive theoretical framework to revise some of our educational practices. Any educational activity presupposes some underlying assumption about human nature. Current dominant mainstream educational setup is based upon disembodied accounts of the human mind, which creates a rift between learners and their environment. It results in exam-oriented and achievement-based learning which is not conducive for the development of critical thinking and exploratory mindset among children. On the other hand, an embodied approach stresses the role of the full body and the rest of the environment in the learning process, and this is of immense relevance to devise better pedagogical practices. In this study, we shall try to explain how embodiment can help reduce the psychological gap between the learner and the environment, thereby making education more integrated and inherently meaningful.
The history of wisdom starts with human civilization. However, scientific exploration to understa... more The history of wisdom starts with human civilization. However, scientific exploration to understand its nature is hardly 50 years old. Theoretical understanding grasped through ancient literature and historical account suggest cultural diversity in the conception of wisdom. This study tried to overview the wisdom concept from different cultural perspectives. Two databases (APA PsycArticles® and PubMed) were explored for English journal articles with an implicit (or mix of implicit and explicit) method to understand the concept of wisdom. A total of 3828 articles were screened, and nine were selected for the final review. Empirical studies exploring wisdom conception mainly represented North American, European and Asian perspectives. Overall, it was found that very few studies have explored cultural conception and cross-cultural understanding of wisdom empirically. Empirical explorations are in their initial stage. Findings suggest there is an overlap in wisdom conception from one cu...
The paper seeks to argue that the feeling of being part of a larger whole, considered to be a maj... more The paper seeks to argue that the feeling of being part of a larger whole, considered to be a major feature of spiritual experience in some traditions, amounts to a change in the way the self is pre-reflectively understood. Further, the paper argues that some recent developments in the study of cognition support the case for such a revision in self-conception, and this can be used to build up a secular understanding of spirituality. The paper proceeds by making use of Abraham Maslow's account of peak experience along with some accounts of both ancient and contemporary forms of spirituality to argue that the feeling of being part of a larger whole amounts to a significant shift from the separative self-conception implicit in everyday behavior. Subsequently, it is argued that some extant theories on cognition point at the illusory nature of separative self-conception.
The paper seeks to argue that different ways in which the self is understood, even if radically d... more The paper seeks to argue that different ways in which the self is understood, even if radically distinct from one another, are cases of different narratives. This is done by appealing to conceptual metaphor theory. The paper begins by briefly explaining the difference between the minimal and narrative self and then argues that even radically different ways of understanding the self are cases of different narratives arising out of a metaphorical understanding of abstract concepts.
This paper seeks to argue that advances in the study of freewill and responsibility are directly ... more This paper seeks to argue that advances in the study of freewill and responsibility are directly relevant to jurisprudence. Following Daniel Dennett attempts to discredit the existence of freewill with the help of experiments can be checked by arguing that freedom should be understood as something that has evolved over time rather than being a pre-existent feature of our species. The major function served by freedom is to ensure responsibility for actions. This understanding of freedom as something that evolved to enhance responsibility suggests that freedom can be developed further. This can be understood as enhancing the ability to follow social norms by overcoming factors that limit responsibility. Jurisprudence has to take into account the ability to follow norms as a variable, even within the category of adults, and treat violations accordingly. Further, efforts to enhance the capacity to be free from habitual reactions need to be made part of education, and the state has to focus on this aspect without which the task of ensuring adherence to law of citizens will remain incomplete.
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Papers by Hari Narayanan