Book | Chapter
Psychological complementarity of spectator and actor
pp. 133-181
Abstract
The chapter defends Bohr's attempt to extend complementarity to deal with psychological phenomena by taking into account our role as spectators and actors in constituting our experience of the world. It argues that gestalt figures illustrate Bohr"s psychological complementarity of the spectator and actor viewpoints. They also explain parallels to the epistemology of complementarity Bohr noticed in Buddhist thought. Such philosophical traditions came to recognize psychological complementarity, and our role as spectators and actors in achieving our experience of nature, when they responded to perceptual experiences achieved through meditation practices, which deconstructed those conceptual frameworks through which we interpret sensory stimuli. The chapter ends by drawing out implications of psychological complementarity for contemporary philosophy of science.
Publication details
Published in:
Bala Arun (2017) Complementarity beyond physics: Niels Bohr's parallels. Dordrecht, Springer.
Pages: 133-181
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-39784-9_3
Full citation:
Bala Arun (2017) Psychological complementarity of spectator and actor, In: Complementarity beyond physics, Dordrecht, Springer, 133–181.