Thinking the unthought: towards a Moebius strip psychology

Author(s): Michael, M.

Journal/Book: New Idea Psychol. 1998; 16: The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England. Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd. 141-157.

Abstract: This paper sketches an alternative to two of the key polar perspectives in contemporary social psychology, namely cognitive psychology and rhetorical psychology. In contrast to the 'closed fist' of the former, and the 'open hand' of the latter, we counterpose the 'invisible arm' of the unthought, By this, we mean that prior to these modes of thought, respectively individualist and socially embedded, are non-rational modes of thought. We explore this third mode with reference to the work of Heidegger on 'shattered thought', Foucault's 'thought from the outside', and Deleuze and Guattari's rhizomics. After considering the usefulness of the Gibsonian notion of affordance, we examine how recent work in the sociology of science on human/non-human assemblages variously known as hybrids, cyborgs or monsters might be brought to bear on the issue of the unthought. In particular, we suggest that the ideas currently being developed by the likes of Latour and Haraway (and theorised by us through the metaphor of the Moebius strip) can be used to locate the irruption of the unthought in both the internal (mental) and external (the technologised world), entailing both the material (corporeal) and semiotic.

Note: Article Kendall G, Queensland Univ Technol, Sch Social Sci, Carseldine Campus, Beams Rd, Carseldine, Qld 4034, AUSTRALIA

Keyword(s): social psychology; rhetoric; irrationality; Heidegger; Foucault; Latour; POSTMODERN

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