Perceptual and bodily habits: Towards a dialogue between phenomenology and somaesthetics

The aim of this paper is to consider synergies between somaesthetics and phenomenology by investigating the concept of habit in lived experience. The aim of this paper is to examine synergies between somaesthetics and phenomenology by investigating the concept of habit in lived experience. The first section will compare the notion of habit in John Dewey’s aesthetic philosophical-pedagogical project with Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology. The second section will demonstrate this link through a comparison between critical phenomenology and Richard Shusterman’s somaesthetics, showing a synergy in their respective understanding of the transformative dimension of bodily habits. The first part will compare the notion of habit in Dewey’s aesthetic philosophical-pedagogical project with Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology. The second part will demonstrate this link through a comparison between critical phenomenology and Schulsterman’s somaesthetics, showing a synergy in their respective understanding of the open plasticity of bodily habits.