Perception and its transformation
fine-tuning in-between states
pp. 69-72
in: Roy Ascott, Gerald Bast, Wolfgang Fiel, Margarete Jahrmann, Ruth Schnell (eds), New realities, Berlin, Springer, 2009Abstract
To begin, I would like to consider perception in relation to the Heideggerian notions of Besorgen or "concern" and Fürsorge or "solicitude", In German, the root of both these words is Sorge. In a conversation between Heidegger and Hubert L. Dreyfus concerning the meaning of this concept, Dreyfus pointed out the connotation of the English verb "care" as love and caring compared to the commonplace meaning "worry" or "troubles" of Sorge. Heidegger agreed with Dreyfus' interpretation and described his own use of the word in the sense of "Sein geht mich an" or "Being gets to me." (Dreyfus 1991, p. 239) As Besorgen, then perception can be investigated in terms of the ways in which we attend to things, in which we are "...being-amidst the available" (Heidegger 1962, p. 237 cited in (Dreyfus 1991, p. 239). In other words, through perception something shows up as mattering to us, i.e., as matter, because it somehow concerns us.
