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Creatures of habit
the problem and the practice of Liberation
pp. 19-39
Abstract
This paper begins by reflecting on the concept of habit and discussing its significance in various philosophical and non-philosophical contexts – for this helps to clarify the connections between habit and selfhood. I then attempt to sketch an account of the self as "nothing but habit," and to address the questions this raises about how such a self must be constituted. Finally, I focus on the issue of freedom, or liberation, and consider the possibility of moving beyond habit. I emphasize the body since it is through the body that the un-doing of habit must take place. Deleuze and Merleau-Ponty are distinguished from the many philosophers who have recognized the importance of habit by their more radical claim that we not only have habits, but are habits – and for this reason I draw on their work in the first two sections of this paper.
Publication details
Published in:
(2005) Continental Philosophy Review 38 (1-2).
Pages: 19-39
DOI: 10.1007/s11007-005-9005-y
Full citation:
Carlisle Clare (2005) „Creatures of habit: the problem and the practice of Liberation“. Continental Philosophy Review 38 (1-2), 19–39.