Moments of recognition

deontic power and bodily felt demands

Henning Nörenberg

pp. 191-206

in: Phenomenology and the cognitive sciences 19 (1), 2020.

Abstract

While the current discussion on embodied cognition provides valuable accounts of an agent's bodily sensitivity to instrumental possibilities ("I can"), in this paper I investigate felt demands as the bodily-affective dimension of the agent's recognition of deontic powers such as obligations ("I ought"). I argue that there is a close kinship between felt demands and affordances in the stricter sense. I will suggest that what is unique about felt demands on an experiential level is that they involve an evaluative perspective arising from acute or anticipated shame-like feelings. The conclusion is that the recognition of deontic power is also a matter of bodily sensitivity.