J.E Malpas: The Influence Of Place

Malpas talks about the importance of place to people. Noting not only that a place is a reflection of the people who are there, but the place is a part of those people as well. There is a connection between people and place. There is a beautiful example of in Aboriginal traditions, the child is a product of place, and the mother is simply the carrier for the child. Hence why indigenous communities have such strong roots to place in their culture, and why removal from the place is traumatising.

I was really taken by the idea that external and internal space are connected. That ones inner space and mind is reflected in how they construct their space, and the space and place one is in is brought into their psyche. This suggests a strong correlation between place and identity. And to discover your identity, you must look at the places you are in/ have been, and study the space you surround yourself with. Davidson argues that the mind  cannot exist without space, as the mind is ‘constituted through it’s interaction and involvement with the objects and events that surround it.

In this way, place is inherently connected to philosophy, if not, the center of it.

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