Moving in the Manner of the Adverb

Philosophy & Rhetoric Jun 2024

Marianne Constable University of California, Berkeley

Abstract

ABSTRACT Learning to move slowly and attentively offers alternatives to how a fast-paced world induces us to act. The Feldenkrais Method’s® awareness-through-movement (ATM)® lessons encourage students to notice what they actually do and how, rather than cathecting on what they should accomplish and how well. Within the constraint of a lesson, one shifts focus from “movement” as noun to “moving” as verb. Students learn that options about how to move—slowly, quickly, lightly, jerkily, smoothly, delicately, precisely, roughly, loosely, energetically, lazily, and more—correspond to choices. Such freedom of choice entangles us in grand philosophical matters as well as in mundane grammatical rules. Insofar as freedom within constraints characterizes how we move and act, including how we write and speak, the seemingly adverbial choices we make reveal who we are: not only in what we do, but in the manner in which as subjects we relate to predicates.

Journal: Philosophy & Rhetoric
Published: 2024-06-28
DOI: 10.5325/philrhet.57.1.0093
Open Access: Closed
Topics: multilingual writers