Open AccessReframing hunting, gathering, tool-making and art, as expressions of evolution of consciousness as depicted in Jean Gebser’s ‘the ever-present origin’
Author(s) -
Fritz Ngale Ilongo
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
hts teologiese studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.282
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 2072-8050
pISSN - 0259-9422
DOI - 10.4102/hts.v73i3.4710
Subject(s) - consciousness , transpersonal , transcendence (philosophy) , unitary state , altered state , cognitive reframing , state (computer science) , epistemology , aesthetics , function (biology) , sociology , cognitive science , psychology , art , philosophy , social psychology , political science , computer science , law , algorithm , evolutionary biology , biology
This article explores the evolution of consciousness as directly correlated to hunting, gathering, tool-making and art. The methodology is qualitative theoretical analyses, articulated around Jean Gebser’s seminal work, The Ever-Present Origin. Hunting and gathering are expressions of a magical, unitary, ‘self-dissolving’ consciousness. Tool-making on the other hand is depicted as evolving from a mythical consciousness of duality, polarity, symbolism and a state of being qualified by ‘crystallisation of the I’. Lastly, art is a function of a consciousness of ‘self-transcendence’, ‘I and I’, idealisation and a transpersonal state of being. The article concludes by positing that hunting, gathering, tool-making and art can be reframed as ‘forms of the movement of consciousness’.