A Study on the Cognition and Recognition of Agentic Valuation and Restraint
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Annika Saarikoski MANAGING THE EMBODIED MIND: A STUDY ON THE COGNITION AND RECOGNITION OF AGENTIC VALUATION AND RESTRAINT JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO INFORMAATIOTEKNOLOGIAN TIEDEKUNTA 2019 TIIVISTELMÄ Saarikoski, Annika Ruumiillisen mielen hallinta: Tutkimus toimijakohtaisen arvonannon ja maltillisuuden tiedostamisesta ja tunnistamisesta Jyväskylä: Jyväskylän yliopisto, 2019, 238 s. Kognitiotiede, pro gradu -tutkielma Ohjaaja: Saariluoma, Pertti Tässä tieteidenvälisessä käsitteellisessä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan ensinnä kognitiotieteen ja fenomenologian suhdetta, erityisesti sitä kuinka niiden tieteenfilosofiset lähestymistavat ihmisen mielen, tietoisuuden ja kokemuksen tutkimuksessa eroavat, sekä täydentävät toisiaan. Työn menetelmällisenä tarkoituksena on siten selventää tieteellisen ja filosofisen ihmistutkimuksen käsitteellistä epämääräisyyttä, sekä rakentavia yhtymäkohtia yhteisöllisesti merkittävien ongelmien tutkimiseksi. Tutkimuksen toisessa osassa sovelletun fenomenologisen orientaation tavoitteena on korostaa näkemystä ihmisen tietoisuudesta maailmasuhteena. Kiinnostus kohdistuu erityisesti luonnon ja kulttuurin jännitteisyyteen eletyn kokemuksen tasolla. Tutkimusongelma liittyy nykyajan itse-hallinnallisia organisoinnin muotoja koskevaan keskusteluun. Ruumiillisen mielen hallinnan tarkastelussa tutkimus yhtyy kriittisiin näkemyksiin, jotka yhdistävät itse-hallinnan käsitteen kapeaan talous- normatiiviseen rationaalisuuteen. Tätä hallinnan muotoa kutsutaan myös tunnetaloudeksi, ja sen tarkoituksena on hyödyntää ihmisten tunne-elämää. Sen operationalisointi perustuu oletukseen, että ihmiset ovat heikkoja ja irrationaalisia arvioitsijoita, joiden alitajuisia impulsseja ja käyttäytymistä voi manipuloida. Kyseenalaistan tunnetalouden käytännön tilanteita ja vuorovaikutusta ohjaavana strategisena mekanismina. Pyrin avartamaan toisenlaisia näkökulmia ja mahdollisuuksia kriittisesti omaksuttuun ja myötätuntoisempaan sosiaaliseen mielikuvitukseen ja merkityksien tulkintaan. Oletan, että uudet näkökulmat edesauttavat parempaa ymmärrystä tunne- elämän käsitteellistämisestä ja ilmaisusta kokemuksellisen itse-sääntelyn tasolla. Orientoin itse-hallinnan käsitteen uudelleen suhteessa klassiseen tunteiden sääntelyn metaforaan joka mielletään vertauskuvallisesti hevosten käsittelyyn. Käytän hevos-metaforaa käsitteellisenä herkisteenä kognition ruumiillisen, kokemuksellisen ja elämismaailmallisen perustan tunnistamiseksi. Korostan siten toimijan henkilökohtaisen arvonannon, maltillisuuden ja empaattisen käsityskyvyn painoarvoa, tunteita välineellistävän ja funktionaalista typeryyttä aikaansaavan hallinnan mallin sijaan. Asiasanat: ruumiillinen kognitio, kriittinen fenomenologia, itse-hallinta, metaforat, radikaali humanismi, tunteiden sääntely, toimijuus organisaatioissa, ihmisen ja eläimen vuorovaikutus, empaattinen apperseptio ABSTRACT Saarikoski, Annika Managing the embodied mind: A study on the cognition and recognition of agentic valuation and restraint Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2019, 238 p. Cognitive Science, Master’s Thesis Supervisor: Saariluoma, Pertti This interdisciplinary conceptual study will firstly provide a review on the philosophically distinct characteristics of cognitive science and phenomenology when researching the mind, consciousness and experience. The methodological purpose of this inquiry is to clarify the human scientific and philosophical research cultural confusion, and to identify the constructive connections for studying the problems of communal significance. Phenomenological orientation is then applied to emphasize human consciousness as a relationship to the world. A core interest is on the natural-cultural intersection of tensions that appear at the level of lived experience. The research problem relates to contemporary discussions on the self-managerial forms of informal organizing. The problem of managing the embodied mind is seen in light of critical theories that connect the concept of self-management to the narrow normativity of economic rationalization. This model of control is also known as the emotional economy, which can be understood as a system of governance that utilizes human emotionality. It is operationalized on the assumption that people are weak and irrational evaluators, who can be manipulated to intensify their subpersonal impulses and behaviours. I will call into question the taken for granted role of the emotional economy as a strategic mechanism of directing real life situations of interaction. The goal is to open the possibilities for a more compassionate social imagination and critical sensemaking. I assume that new perspectives enable us to better understand the elementary experiential level of self-regulation in relation to the conception and expression of emotional life. I re-orient the concept of self-management with a classical metaphor of emotion regulation that is figuratively assimilated with the imagery of handling horses. I use the horse-metaphor as a conceptual sensitizer for the purpose of recognizing the embodied, experiential, and lifeworld grounds of cognition. I thus accentuate the personalistic agentic weight of valuation, restraint and empathic apperception, instead of the instrumental model of emotional control that circumscribes cognitive achievement to functional stupidity. Keywords: embodied cognition, critical phenomenology, self-management, metaphors, radical humanism, emotion regulation, agency in organizations, human- animal interaction, empathic apperception ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In more ways than one, this cognitive scientific graduate thesis has provided me the necessary reflective platform, time and space to think through concepts, and for this I am most grateful. The realization of this problem-based and conceptual interdisciplinary study could not have been achieved without the support from many persons in and outside the University of Jyväskylä. Firstly, I thank Professor Pertti Saariluoma and the HD–research group in cognitive science at the faculty of Information Technology, for providing an open community of thought with a truly multidisciplinary atmosphere. Professor Saariluoma has perpetually challenged my thinking in a tactful way, and widened the possibility space to develop my research position and argumentation over the years. The intellectual variety of his knowledge on human research has also been a source of inspiration. The fact that I was able to write this study in the manner of arts and humanities rather than according to the standard scientific format, attests to the notion of scholarly openness. This is also a pre-study in relation to my double doctorate studies in the disciplines of entrepreneurship, management and leadership, and applied economics, so I wish to express gratitude to Professor Iiris Aaltio from the Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics (JSBE), and to Professor Frank Lambrechts from the University of Hasselt, for patiently enabling the educational background for studying the experiential constitutes of organizing. I am grateful for Professor Sara Heinämaa from the department of Social Sciences and Philosophy and the Academy of Finland, for the rigorous cultivation of my understanding on phenomenology as a radical philosophy. As a critical organization researcher, I have found that phenomenology is a highly relevant, yet challenging research methodological orientation to learn to apply. I also thank Jussi Saarinen and Joona Taipale for advice and suggestions. My socio-historical and cultural political awareness would have been more insufficient without being a member in an aspiring research group in Social Sciences and Philosophy, thanks to Professor Miikka Pyykkönen. I thank Elina Jokinen for creating a space of peer support that helped to initiate the writing process. I also warmly thank Alexander Fleischmann, Laura Mononen, Kristiina Niemi-Kaija, and Päivi Raitanen, for the insightful discussions and comments that helped me to advance the drafts of this project. I wish to thank Auli and Wouter Lamers, the owner-managers of a riding school establishment Laku Stall in Tikkakoski, who are running their organization with a dedication for the good of the animals, and for the good of the people who participate in this welcoming local community of practice. I hold cordial regard for my family members and friends, especially Tiina Riiihinen and Anna Talvinen, who have kindly encouraged (and endured) my horse-metaphorical ponderings, and also concretely joined the configuration of the artwork case chapter. And last but not least, Kiitos Aila Saarikoski. PICTURES PICTURE 1. “No Life Lost II” (2015) by Berlinde De Bruyckere……………… 138 PICTURE 2. “Portret” (2013-2014) by Berlinde De Bruyckere………………… 139 PICTURE 3. “K21” (2006) by Berlinde De Bruyckere…………………………... 140 CONTENTS TIIVISTELMÄ ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PICTURES 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 9 1.1 The purpose of the study ............................................................................ 9 1.1.1 The research questions .................................................................... 11 1.2 Meta-rationality: cognitive-philosophical reform of valuation .......... 12 1.3 Problematizing the concept of self-management .................................. 16 1.4 Positioning in the tradition of embodied cognition .............................. 22 1.5 Metaphorical mode of inquiry and empathic apperception ............... 26 1.6 Connecting radical reflection