Abstract
During the study, I propose looking at older age and aging from the perspective of the body, which I treat as the basic determinant of experiencing later life. Referring to Shusterman’s (2005) term of somaesthetics, I present my proposal for describing the experience of aging (senesthetics), which is rooted in embodied experience. Treating aging as embodied makes it possible to more directly focus on experiences that arise as a result of the interaction between a person and the environment. I share the results of data analyses of the empirical material from the second component of the “Learning to old age. Intergenerational education in a relational perspective” project. The study was conducted in 2024 and was based on the use of a simulator of old age sensations during focus group interviews with young people. The aim of the paper is two-fold. First, it is to answer the question of how aging can inform our knowledge on the relations between humans and non-humans. Second, it explores how aging can be used within the framework of preventive humanities, specifically as a conceptual tool to build attitudes of understanding based on the ethics of care, as well as to foster adaptation to changes in an aging society. The results fit into the sociological debates on intergenerational relations, situating the discussion in the context of corporeality and changes in generational understanding and experience. They also provide new knowledge on the ways of socially examining the body and corporeality using innovative research methods.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Social and Cultural Perspectives on Aging
KEYWORDS
Aging, Body, Experiment
