Love & Philosophy #79 Loving to Know and Subsidiary Focal Integration with Esther Lightcap Meek
with philosopher Esther Lightcap Meek, Professor of Philosophy emerita at Geneva College, in Western Pennsylvania
exploring from-to fractals, Michael Polanyi, Meek's Indeterminate Future Manifestations, the difference between information and knowledge, epistemological therapy... and all with some laughter and good cheer
Happy holidays! These conversations are part of research: to skip the research ramble, go to 26:30. This episode explores the intricate relationships between knowledge, information, reality, and love with guest Esther Lightcap Meek. Building on the ideas of Michael Polanyi, Esther and Andrea delve into the concept of ‘subsidiary focal integration’ and its implications for how we understand reality. The conversation addresses the limitations of viewing knowledge merely as information, the importance of bodily cognition, and how love and communion with the real are fundamental to genuine knowing. It shows how philosophy can be understood as therapeutic, a dynamic process that connects us deeply with ourselves, each other, and the world.
00:00 Introduction to the Concept of Reality and Information
01:46 The Role of Subsidiary Focal Integration
03:36 Exploring Covenant Epistemology
04:54 Understanding Bodily Cognition
06:44 Introducing Esther Lightcap Meek
08:50 The Journey of a Philosopher
10:46 The Importance of Subsidiary Focal Integration
13:02 Practical Applications and Everyday Philosophy
16:40 The Role of Philosophy in Real Life
26:31 A Conversation with Esther Lightcap Meek
49:34 Integrative Knowledge and Liberation
50:25 Epistemological Therapy and Embodied Cognition
52:37 The Role of Subsidiary Focal Integration
54:58 Daisy of Dichotomies and Modernity
57:54 The Interpersonal Nature of Knowledge
01:11:20 Covenant Epistemology in Education
01:18:35 AI, Tools, and the Real
01:29:14 The Role of Love in Knowing
A professional philosopher, author and speaker, Esther offers her own distinctive, down-to-earth, approach to the philosophical matters that ground and permeate our lives: humanness, meaning, reality, knowing.
The book Andrea and Esther discuss here is Loving to Know.
Link here to Esther’s work and books: https://www.estherlightcapmeek.com
Please rate and review with love.
YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Substack.