A phenomenological study on the concept of embodied knowledge

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to clarify the concept of embodied knowledge based on the theory of body in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology.

As a result of considering the conceptual distinction between embodied knowledge and tacit knowledge, the author revealed that embodied knowledge included tacit knowledge. In embodied knowledge, there are tacit knowledge as unexternalizable and intransmittable knowledge, and unexternalizable and transmittable knowledge.

In the theory of body in Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, the body is phenomenal body, there are the habitual body and the actual body in the phenomenal body. And, the objective body is defined as the second-order expression of the phenomenal body. As a result of considering embodied knowledge and tacit knowledge based on the theory, the author clarified that embodied knowledge was knowledge in the phenomenal body, tacit knowledge was knowledge in the habitual body, unexternalizable and transmittable knowledge was knowledge in the actual body, and externalizable and transmittable knowledge was knowledge in the objective body.

Thus, it is needed to focus on phenomenal body as a subject to clarify embodied knowledge of ball games of team sports. And, this study showed the theoretical basis of embodied knowledge in the situation that embodied knowledge and tacit knowledge had been confused. The future topic is to clarify embodied knowledge of sports based on this study.