The body thinks too

- Icelandic research gets international attention

What happens when we feel that we know something but have not yet found the words to express it? Can felt sensing be a part of critical thinking – and even help us to create new thoughts?

These questions are among the subjects of international research on embodied and experiential critical thinking led by Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iceland; Donata Schoeller, Research Professor at the University of Iceland; Björn Þorsteinsson and Ólafur Páll Jónsson, Professors at the University of Iceland; Guðbjörg R. Jóhannesdóttir and Kristín Valsdóttir, Professors at the Icelandic University for the Arts, and Greg Walkerden, Professor Emeritus at Macquarie University in Australia.

Researchers connected with close to 30 universities around the world are involved in the project Freedom to Make Sense: Embodied, Experiential and Mindful Inquiry and Research, see www.makesense.hi.is.

One of the bases for the project are the theories of the American philosopher Eugene Gendlin about the preconceptual or implicit. Gendlin argued that thinking draws on more than the concepts and words already at our disposal. We may have a complex understanding of a subject that we sense or feel before we can put it into words.

“We sometimes feel that we know or understand something before we have found words to describe it. If we pay attention to this feeling, it can help us to see an issue freshly and even lead us to new ideas,” says Sigríður.

This experience is probably familiar to most people. We are engaged in a lively conversation, our coffee mugs in hand, and feel that something important has come up, but we have not yet found the right words to describe our understanding or viewpoint. We still persevere and try to find them.

This also applies when a researcher looks at their results and senses that something is off before they can conclusively identify the problem. A student struggles with a problem and senses that the solution is at hand, yet cannot express it.
In other words, we sometimes understand things even if we are unable to put them into words.

Where words have yet to come

The aim of this multi-national project is to study how people can be trained to focus on this vague yet significant experience and to develop it into clear thoughts, new concepts and new questions.

“Embodied critical thinking complements conceptual analysis and logical debate. It extends and deepens these practices by reconnecting conscious thought with the lived experience from which new insights can emerge,” says Sigríður. In other words, we do not only think using words and concepts already at our disposal, but also from what we feel and sense before we can put it into words, allowing new thoughts to take shape.

A leap into practice

According to Sigríður, the methods in the project are rooted in philosophy, psychology, phenomenology and have furthermore been developed in education, social sciences, cognitive science, environmental research, and art research.

Among the methods used in the project, Sigríður mentions Focusing, a method in which people learn to allow the emergence of a felt sense, a concept from Gendlin. Felt sense is wider than direct sense or emotion; it is a philosophical, holistic sense of a particular issue. Gendlin used felt sense to develop a methodology for theoretical and scientific thought that he called Thinking at the Edge. This method operates on the boundaries between what we have already managed to put into words and what has not yet reached that stage, by coming up with fresh words, concepts and connections.

Other approaches in this work include mindfulness, micro-phenomenology, and artistic research methods, in which movement, images, audio, material sensing, and creative writing are developed as ways to access experiences that can be hard to encompass with traditional theoretical language. The researchers in the Freedom to Make Sense project not only theorise about these methodologies but also take a leap into practice, undertaking training in their use and conducting empirical research into the experiences and practices involved. The project has recently secured a contract with De Gruyter to publish a book series showcasing its research on embodied and experiential thinking.

Around 200 participants in training

Another result of the project is the international Erasmus+ education and training project Training in Embodied Critical Thinking and Understanding. Sigríður says that in six years, around 200 graduate students, researchers, teachers and specialists have completed this programme, which amounts to 15 ECTS. The programme combines theoretical knowledge with focused training, and the participants learn to use the methods in their own research and work.

Sigríður and her research collaborators believe this approach is highly relevant today. The overflow of information, polarized public and political debates, climate and environmental threats, and the exponential growth of AI all demand conscious practices of deeper forms of critical thinking. “Critical thinking is about more than assessing statements and arguments. We also need to be able to pause, examine our own experiences, and be open to the complexity that emerges. This can create a new understanding,” says Sigríður.
The ability to assess statements and arguments will remain the key factor, says Sigríður. However, critical thinking also means enduring uncertainty, seeing what falls outside the boundaries of traditional thinking, and seeking understanding where old ideas no longer work.

Research accessible to all

The results of the work can be found in the book Practicing Embodied Thinking in Research and Learning, published by Routledge in 2024 and accessible for free. The book’s editors are Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir, Donata Schoeller and Greg Walkerden.

In the book, scholars from different disciplines discuss the theoretical grounding of embodied and experiential thought and how such methods can be applied in research and university studies, cognitive science, environmental research, and artistic and cognitive work. The project also presents its findings through lectures and workshops as well as audiovisual formats. Three short documentaries have been produced. One of these, Methods of Embodied Critical Thinking, presents the project Freedom to Make Sense and the methods used there. A second one presents methodologies of writing from a felt sense in scholarly and scientific texts. The third one, The Olive Tree Program, explores how Focusing-based methods can strengthen resilience and develop life skills among Arabic-speaking immigrants. These products along with recordings of lectures can be seen on the YouTube channel of the project. .

Maybe it is appropriate to use the method of Sigríður and her colleagues towards the end and try to find the core of the matter. What if thinking starts before we find the words?

The answer suggested by the research suggests that we sometimes know more than we have managed to put into words. By pausing, paying attention to this knowledge and not trying to force them into already familiar concepts, something new may be born.
New way of thinking.

In brief, this international study may at first glance seem complex, and it is not clear that the writer of this text can find the right words to explain it. This in itself may prove the value of the research.

A Professor on a path of her own

Sigríður Þorgeirsdóttir is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iceland. She has been at the forefront of feminist philosophy for the past decades, both in Iceland and internationally. Her research areas are feminist philosophy, embodied philosophy, Nietzsche, and environmental philosophy, and, in recent years, embodied and experiential critical thinking. She is on the board of FISP, the International Federation of Philosophical Societies, and led the society’s committee on gender issues for a decade.

Sigríður has also been engaged in finding new ways to present philosophy and research to the public. She has a podcast, Siggasophy/Sigguspeki and has worked on other media and artistic projects with an eye to bringing philosophical thought outside the academy into direct dialogue with society. The joy of philosophising and the clarity that comes with living thought are experiences she hopes to share with a wider public.