Habit, sedimentation and institutions

In contrast to intellectualist and behaviorist conceptions of habit, recent enactivist discussions argue that habits reflect a type of contextualized intelligence. This enactive anti-intellectualist view is a close cousin to the pragmatist and phenomenological conceptions of habit as embedded in bod...

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Main Author: Shaun Gallagher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Cogent Arts & Humanities
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2480879
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author Shaun Gallagher
author_facet Shaun Gallagher
author_sort Shaun Gallagher
collection DOAJ
description In contrast to intellectualist and behaviorist conceptions of habit, recent enactivist discussions argue that habits reflect a type of contextualized intelligence. This enactive anti-intellectualist view is a close cousin to the pragmatist and phenomenological conceptions of habit as embedded in bodily modes of response and sedimented in modes of perception. The phenomenological concept of sedimentation, however, provides a way to understand how habits relate to social/cultural/institutional factors, not unlike Bourdieu’s concept of habitus (and in spite of Bourdieu’s criticism of Husserl). Despite some important differences between the phenomenological and enactive approaches to habit, I argue that the concept of sedimentation can enrich the enactive analysis, allowing for a dynamical understanding of the role played by social, cultural and institutional factors in habit formation, and the role played by habit in the formation of institutions.
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spelling doaj-art-cab0b13c9d714074a317cdc3565e19f82025-08-20T02:27:15ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Arts & Humanities2331-19832025-12-0112110.1080/23311983.2025.2480879Habit, sedimentation and institutionsShaun Gallagher0Department of Philosophy, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee, USAIn contrast to intellectualist and behaviorist conceptions of habit, recent enactivist discussions argue that habits reflect a type of contextualized intelligence. This enactive anti-intellectualist view is a close cousin to the pragmatist and phenomenological conceptions of habit as embedded in bodily modes of response and sedimented in modes of perception. The phenomenological concept of sedimentation, however, provides a way to understand how habits relate to social/cultural/institutional factors, not unlike Bourdieu’s concept of habitus (and in spite of Bourdieu’s criticism of Husserl). Despite some important differences between the phenomenological and enactive approaches to habit, I argue that the concept of sedimentation can enrich the enactive analysis, allowing for a dynamical understanding of the role played by social, cultural and institutional factors in habit formation, and the role played by habit in the formation of institutions.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2480879Habithabitussedimentationsocial interactioninstitutionCognitive Psychology
spellingShingle Shaun Gallagher
Habit, sedimentation and institutions
Cogent Arts & Humanities
Habit
habitus
sedimentation
social interaction
institution
Cognitive Psychology
title Habit, sedimentation and institutions
title_full Habit, sedimentation and institutions
title_fullStr Habit, sedimentation and institutions
title_full_unstemmed Habit, sedimentation and institutions
title_short Habit, sedimentation and institutions
title_sort habit sedimentation and institutions
topic Habit
habitus
sedimentation
social interaction
institution
Cognitive Psychology
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311983.2025.2480879
work_keys_str_mv AT shaungallagher habitsedimentationandinstitutions