Ep 9. Being in the World- A Tribute to Hubert Dreyfus

Being in the World – A Tribute to Hubert Dreyfus is the 9th episode in Season 18 of Closer to Truth, a documentary series exploring fundamental questions about existence, consciousness, and reality. In this episode, host Robert Lawrence Kuhn pays homage to the late philosopher Hubert Dreyfus, who was a leading expert on the philosophy of phenomenology and existentialism.

Dreyfus believed that our understanding of the world is rooted in our embodied experience, and that intellectualism and abstract theories cannot capture the complexity and richness of human life. He argued that we need to rediscover and celebrate the kind of practical engagement with the world that has been lost in modern times.

Kuhn interviews a range of scholars and thinkers who have been influenced by Dreyfus's ideas, including Jay Garfield, John Haugeland, Charles Taylor, Alice Crary, and Irene McMullin. They discuss Dreyfus's thesis that mastery of a skill involves a profound connection between the body, mind, and environment, and that this connection cannot be reduced to simple rules or algorithms.

The episode also explores the implications of Dreyfus's philosophy for everyday life, from cooking to sports to video games. Kuhn speaks with professional chefs about the importance of intuition and embodiment in cooking, with athletes about the role of muscle memory and bodily expertise in sports, and with video game designers about the potential for games to engage us in embodied experiences.

Throughout the episode, Kuhn reflects on how Dreyfus's ideas challenge our assumptions about what it means to be human, and how they offer a new perspective on the relationship between technology and society. He suggests that Dreyfus's work has become especially relevant in the current age of automation and artificial intelligence, where many people fear that technology is rendering us useless and irrelevant.

In conclusion, Being in the World – A Tribute to Hubert Dreyfus is a thought-provoking and engaging exploration of one of the most important and influential thinkers of our time. It invites us to reconsider our relationship with the world around us, and to find new ways to engage with the challenges and opportunities of modern life.