This was an introductory meeting to the discussion group. The plan and general outline for the sessions to follow was described and an emphasis was made on the experimental nature of the format and topic. We began by sharing what each of us understood by the unconscious. It was clear that as a group we definitely viewed animals as also being ‘conscious’ beings, but we were less certain about their possession of an ‘unconscious’. A question that everyone had to answer in preparation for this first session was: ‘is the unconscious more a noun of an adjective?’. We didn’t have a clear consensus, but an idea came up that the unconscious may actually be more of a ‘verb’. The rest of the session was dedicated to the intellectual direction of the group. In addition, the logistics and meeting schedule was discussed. A question was also raised about the distinction between the ‘subconscious’ and the ‘unconscious’. Towards the end, we discussed a development in anthropology called the ‘ontological turn’ and how it might relate to how we view other ‘beings’ vs ‘ourselves as humans’ as being ‘part of nature’. 

 

Participants:

Patrick Lim

Alexandra Bisia

Catherine Szkop

Marc Simanowitz

Tor Ahissar

Krystal White

Daniel Zohar

Razan Assi

Lea Cohen