After founding the subjectivity of living organism in its relation
to the life itself, Kimura tries to re-locate the subjectivity of living
organisms in the place of Gestaltkreis
(von Weizäcker’s notion), where the perception and movement makes a circular-unit with the surrounding environment.
A living organism maintains its subjectivity in its relation to
the surrounding environment. By definition, something alive has its own
spontaneous movement toward the environment (when it loses movement, it appears
as dead). Movement is caused through the encounter with the environment and
informs perception toward it.
For example, my movement of reaching is caused when I see a
ball rolling toward me, and my perception of the ball is permeated by my
possible movements of reaching, grabbing, and throwing it. The subjectivity is
maintained, based on the appropriate cycle of perception and movement toward
the environment. It is not autonomous such thing as "modern ego".
It is possible to say that his view of subjectivity is enactive.
In Kimura’s view, the subjectivity is originally action-based and
action-oriented. And of course, the action is something that occurs when a
living organism encounters with a certain environment. Subjectivity is not
autonomous or pre-given thing. Kimura says:
“As a living organism encounters with the environment, the subject
is realized through this encounter. Thus, if this encounter is destroyed for
some reason, the subject will also disappear at that moment.”
[Kimura, B. (2005). Aida.
Tokyo: Chikuma Shobo, p.22 (translation by ST)]
Here, it should be confirmed that the subjectivity itself
has its foundation in between (aida) of a living organism and the
environment. In case of human, it would mean that the subjectivity of each
human being is realized through the encounter with the world. This view would partly
coincide with the notion of “Being-in-the-world”.
