An everyday account of witnessing

Turner, Phil

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion of an everyday ontology of witnessing drawing on the writings of Martin Heidegger, cognitive science and presence research. We begin by defining witnessing: to witness we must be present; and that which is witnessed must be available. Witnessing is distinguished from perceiving in that it implies and requires a record (a representation) of what has been perceived. Presence and availability are (relatively) uncontroversial but finding a place for representation, which is a classically dualistic concept, in an ontological account potentially presents difficulties. We address this problem by recognising that being available, ready-to-hand and proximal can also serve to represent the very thing being witnessed.

Citation

Turner, P. (2011). An everyday account of witnessing. AI & society, 27, 5-12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-011-0323-9

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2011
• Deposit Date: May 29, 2012
• Print ISSN: 0951-5666
• Publisher: BMC
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 27
• Pages: 5-12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-011-0323-9
• Keywords: Presence; Martin Heidegger; witnessing; availability; representation
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/5306
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00146-011-0323-9