Abstract
The paper uses a phenomenological analysis of interviews
with a professional string quartet to critique the notion of ‘skilled coping’
as used by Hubert Dreyfus. According to Dreyfus, skilled coping
is a way of being and acting in which one is immersed in one’s actions
such that one is not thinking or reflecting. He uses examples from various
experts, such a chess-, baseball-, and soccer players, to illustrate
this. I argue that his account suffers from a reductive dualism between
coping and reflection and further from a lack of clarity. I use my work
with the string quartet to illustrate that so-called skilled coping,
rather than a distinct phenomenon, is a series of connected mental
phenomena that span highly reflective stances as well as trance-like
states of absorption. Therefore, I point out that Dreyfus’s problematic
usage in fact prevents us from appreciating the phenomenological
complexity of the absorption of experts.
with a professional string quartet to critique the notion of ‘skilled coping’
as used by Hubert Dreyfus. According to Dreyfus, skilled coping
is a way of being and acting in which one is immersed in one’s actions
such that one is not thinking or reflecting. He uses examples from various
experts, such a chess-, baseball-, and soccer players, to illustrate
this. I argue that his account suffers from a reductive dualism between
coping and reflection and further from a lack of clarity. I use my work
with the string quartet to illustrate that so-called skilled coping,
rather than a distinct phenomenon, is a series of connected mental
phenomena that span highly reflective stances as well as trance-like
states of absorption. Therefore, I point out that Dreyfus’s problematic
usage in fact prevents us from appreciating the phenomenological
complexity of the absorption of experts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Consciousness Studies |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 9-10 |
| Pages (from-to) | 49-73 |
| Number of pages | 25 |
| ISSN | 1355-8250 |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2014 |