Loree wrote:
>It occurs to me that the experiences of quadriplegics
>may provide some information...
>
>I'm not sure how much communication between the body
>and mind is lost in severe cases of spinal injury, but
>it seems as if there is enough so that we can
>tentatively conclude that while our bodies may
>influence our sense of self, they aren't essential to
>our perception of ourselves AS ourselves.
>
There is quite a good book on this very topic written by Wendy Seymour, Its called Remaking the Body (Routledge) and is an ethnographic study of quadraplegics and how they have had to redefine their self to cope with spinal injury and it's effects. It's a good read and shows clearly how one's sense of self is intimately connected with one's body. When these people lost particular abilities and functions, they had to reevaulte thier self, both in the way they now saw themsleves, and how others saw them.
Something that hasn't been mentioned particularly is the importance of other people to our sense of self. We define who we by what we look like, what we do, from experience and from our interactions with others - modifying our bodies will obviously have a profound effect on our sense of self, not just becuase of how we know we look and feel, but others opinions are also important to us. Some may say that they don't care what others think....but I think the majority of us do...maybe not.
any thoughts?