Abstract
This paper explores a possible anthropological dimension of place by providing an interpretation of Helmuth Plessner’s philosophical approach which proposes to understand it as a twofold “implacement” of man – discussing both the place of man in the natural world and man’s specific relation to place that makes him take his place in the natural world. The interpretation follows Plessner’s idea of a natural set of stages, developed in his major work Die Stufen des Organischen und der Mensch, leading from inanimate objects to plants, animals, and humans. According to Plessner, each stage differs from the other by virtue of its respective spatial delineation toward, and its position in, the world. With the paradoxical concept of man’s “eccentric positionality”, Plessner accounts for the exceptional position of man without thereby neglecting, on the one hand, his being part of nature, and, without falling prey to naturalism, on the other. Thus, Plessner offers an interesting perspective on place that also points beyond mere anthropocentrism.
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Notes
- 1.
For the connection between place and boundary cf. Casey’s distinction between borders and boundaries in Casey 2017, pp. 7–27; Jeff Malpas also stresses the importance of boundaries for any philosophy of place (Malpas 2015, p. 122): “It is perhaps the attentiveness to the idea of boundary, and the necessity and productivity of that boundedness, that most clearly marks out the topographic or topological from other modes of contemporary thought.”
- 2.
For Heidegger as a source for philosophical thinking on place cf. Malpas 2006.
- 3.
- 4.
All quotes from Plessner are my translation, if not otherwise indicated.
- 5.
- 6.
Nevertheless, there are not only clear influences of Heidegger on Plessner (also in terms of language), Heidegger has also turned his attention to the question of life and man’s relation to animals and inorganic entities (cf. Heidegger 2001).
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Schlitte, A. (2018). Place and Positionality – Anthropo(topo)logical Thinking with Helmuth Plessner. In: Hünefeldt, T., Schlitte, A. (eds) Situatedness and Place. Contributions To Phenomenology, vol 95. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92937-8_8
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