The ideas I discuss in this item
solidified for me as a result of an email dialog I had with Janene
Smith, a correspondent with whom I have had several long and useful
email discussions about a variety of topics about which we
disagree. The item represents my personal
interpretation of a quote from David Abram’s The Spell Of The
Sensuous
about Husserl’s phenomenology: "Only by acknowledging the embodied
nature of the experiencing self was Husserl able to avoid the pitfalls
of solipsism." This quote puzzled me for quite a while until
my
discussion with Janene led me to the insight I present in the
item. Janene asked me to be clear that her contribution was that
of
a devil’s advocate.