Expressing the Experiences of Life

Review of MORI Arimasa

Abstract

Mori is a philosopher who systematically analyzed the meaning of experience. The present study is an attempt to understand his thoughts about experience and utilize this in the study of life stories. Experience for Mori is life itself, it fills and organizes a person’s life. Mori expressed the process of discovery and generation of experience through the appearance of "things" which fills the world of experience and appears as objects with unity. He defined words using such "things" and sought for ideas that consisted of their definitions. To investigate the process is to follow "the route from meaning to existence". Meaning circulates between objects and experiences. Semantics that can explain this process are generative semantics, in which meaning is perceived in the context, such as in Vygotsky’s semantics. Meaning of experience is condensed into the theme of life in going through life contexts. The organization of experience and giving meaning to experience in life stories are fully explained by the condensation of the theme of life.