Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty
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Description
This chapter, composed of three parts by three different authors, proposes that one of the many possible ways that dance might embody philosophic thought and discourse is via embodying ethical practice. Each author contributes a different perspective on the relationship between dance and ethical activity. The perspectives can be read both as separate ideas and as interrelated thoughts. Einav Katan-Schmid views "dance" as a metaphor for "embodied ethics." She analyzes dance as an embodied activity of decision-making that regulates the tension between co-existing physical dynamics. Following from the idea of "dancing," she suggests that one think of "embodied ethics" in performative terms – as a contemplative activity. Aili Bresnahan goes on to show how dance practice provides examples of applied ethics within the traditional western philosophical categories of both virtue ethics and consequentialist ethics. In the third section, Sara Houston argues that dance can encompass an ethics of care. She demonstrates how dance with an ethic of care involves attentiveness, putting person before form, and for the dance artists to give up a degree of control and autonomy over the work made.
ISBN
9781138495623
Publication Date
8-2020
Publication Source
The Routledge Companion to Performance Philosophy
Publisher
Routledge
Disciplines
Philosophy
Recommended Citation
Bresnahan, Aili W.; Katan-Schmid, Einav; and Houston, Sara, "Dance as Embodied Ethics" (2020). Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty. 65.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/books/65
Comments
The document available for download is the authors' accepted manuscript, provided following a required embargo in compliance with the publisher's policy on self-archiving. Permission documentation is on file. To view the version of record, contact your academic library or use the DOI provided.