Abstract
Things make sense to us. The identity of a thing is a meaningful style that expresses the usability of the thing. The usability is a dynamic order of the praxis in which the thing is embedded and in which we are ourselves de-centered. According to Merleau-Ponty, this sociocultural and psychosocial order is a formation of practical understanding and interpretation that rests upon and resumes the elementary, perceptual-expressive structuring of being. The Spiel is one of the three dimensions of corporeal intentionality, in which this entire organization of meaning and experience unfolds. So, the Spiel of usability is a corporeal and practical intentionality that reaches from an aesthetic-ontological structuring of meaning to the order of the things in modern everyday praxes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this article
We’re sorry, something doesn't seem to be working properly.
Please try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, please contact support so we can address the problem.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, P. (1990). The Logic of Practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Buytendijk, F.J.J. (1933). Wesen und Sinn des Spiels. Das Spiel von Mensch und Tier. [The Essence and Meaning of Play. The Play by Human Being and Animal.] Berlin: Kurt Wolff Verlag.
Costall, A. (2001). Socializing Affordances. Manuscript.
Derrida, J. (1990). Writing and Difference. London: Routledge.
Ehn, P. (1988). Work-Oriented Design of Computer Artifacts. Stockholm: Arbetslivscentrum.
Fink, E. (1974). The Ontology of Play. Philosophy Today 18: 147–161.
Foucault, M. (1989). The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Routlege.
Foucault, M. (1994). The Order of Things. An Archaeology of the Human Sciences. New York: Vintage Books.
Gadamer, H.-G. (1990). Wahrheit und Metode. Tübingen: Mohr.
Garfinkel, H. (1984). Studies in Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Gibson, J.J. (1986). The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Asssociates.
Habermas, J. (1981). Theorie des kommunikativen Handelns. Band 2. [The Theory of Communicative Action. Volume 2]. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp Verlag.
Habermas, T. (1996). Geliebte Objekte. Symbole und Instrumente der Identitätsbildung. [Beloved Objects. Symbols and Instruments of the Formation of Identity.] Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Heidegger, M. (1972/1978). Sein und Zeit. [Being and Time] Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag.
Heidegger, M. (1993). The Origin of the Work of Art. In Basic Writings. Ed. D.F. Krell. London: Routledge.
Heidegger, M. (1997). Das Ding [The Thing] In Vorträge und Aufsätze. Stuttgart: Verlag Günther Neske.
Hongo, H. (1998). Merleau-Ponty on Language and Things. Analecta Husserliana LVIII, 133–150.
Huizinga, J. (1963). Homo Ludens. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
Husserl, E. (1973). Experience and Judgment. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Husserl, E. (1986). Die Phänomenologie und die Fundamente der Wissenschaften. [Phenomenology and the Foundations of the Sciences] Hamburg: Felix Meiner Verlag.
Jordan, B. (1989). Cosmopolitan Obstetrics: Some Insights from the Training of Traditional Midwifes. Social Science & Medicine 28: 925–44.
Keller, K. (1994). Conditions for Computer-Supported Cooperative Work. Technology Studies 1: 242–269.
Keller, K. (1997). Understanding of Work and Explanation of Systems. In Social Science, Technical Systems and Cooperative Work. Eds. G. Bowker, S.L. Star, W. Turner and L. Gasser. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. pp. 433–454.
Keller, K.D. (1999). Sociotechnics and the Structuring of Meaning. Cybernetics and Human Knowing 6: 76–96.
Keller, K. D. (2001a). Intentionality in Perspectival Structure. Chiasmi International. Trilingual Studies Concerning Merleau-Ponty’s Thought 3: 375–395.
Keller, K.D. (2001b). Self and Community. Presentation for the 26th annual meeting of The International Merleau-Ponty Circle, September 2001 at the University of North Carolina, Asheville.
Keller, K.D. (2004). Praxis and Spiel. Unpublished manuscript.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991). Situated Learning. Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marx, K. (1974). Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie. Band 1. [The Capital. Critique of Political Economy. Volume 1] Berlin: Dietz Verlag.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1945/1962). Phénoménology de la Perception. [Phenomenology of Perception] Paris: Gallimard.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964a/1968). Le Visible et l’Invisible. [The Visible and the Invisible] Paris: Gallimard.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964b). Signs. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964c). The Film and the New Psychology. In Sense and Non-sense. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. pp. 48–59.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1988). L’Expérience d’Autrui. In Merleau-Ponty a la Sorbonne. R’esumé de cours 1949–1952. Éditions Cynara. pp. 539–570.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1993a). Eye and Mind. In The Merleau-Ponty Aesthetic Reader. Ed. G.A. Johnson. Evanston: Northwestern University Press. pp. 121–149.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1993b). The Experience of Others. In Merleau-Ponty and Psychology. Ed. K. Hoeller. New Jersey: Humanities Press.
Miller, D. (2002). Artefacts and the Meaning of Things. In Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Ed. T. Ingold. London: Routledge. pp. 396–419.
Natanson, M. (1986). Anonymity. A Study in the Philosophy of Alfred Schutz. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Norman, D.A. (1990). The Design of Everyday Things. New York: Doubleday. (Original title: The Psychology of Everyday Things. Basic Books, 1988.)
Pye, D. (1978). The Nature and Aesthetics of Design. London: Barrie & Jenkins
Sallis, J. (1995). Delimitations. Phenomenology and the End of Metaphysics, 2nd ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Sartre, J.-P. (1969). Itinerary of a Thought. (Interview). New Left Review 58: 43–66.
Sartre, J.-P. (1982). Critique of Dialectical Reason. London: Verso.
Schutz, A. (1962). Collected Papers, Vol. 1: The Problem of Social Reality. Ed. M. Natanson. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Schutz, A. (1966). Collected Papers. Vol. 3: Studies in Phenomenological Philosophy. Ed. I. Schutz. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Waldenfels, B. (1987). Ordnung im Zwielicht. [Order in Twilight.] Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Waldenfels, B. (1994). Antwortregister. [Register of Answering] Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Weber, M. (1949). The Methodology of the Social Sciences. Glencoe: Free Press.
Weismüller, C. (1999). Jean-Paul Sartres Philosophie der Dinge [Jean-Paul Sartre’s Philosophy of Things], Düsseldorf: Psychoanalyse & Philosophie.
Winnicott, D.W. (1991). Playing and Reality. London: Routledge.
Winograd, T & Flores, F. (1986). Understanding Computers and Cognition. Reading: Addison-Wesley.
Wittgenstein, L. (1971). Filosofiske undersøgelser. [Philosophical Investigations] Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Keller, K.D. The Corporeal Order of Things: The Spiel of Usability. Hum Stud 28, 173–204 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-005-4191-5
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-005-4191-5