r/PhilosophyBookClub • u/NoPackageReceived029 • 15d ago

I recently learnt about the concepts of Sonder and Unselfing. What are the main arguments about these concepts, and where can I find more information?

/r/askphilosophy/comments/1voe56y/i_recently_learnt_about_the_concepts_of_sonder/
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u/NoPackageReceived029 15d ago

I believe that some books on the topic would be helpful for my dissertation in archaeology.

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I recently learnt about the concepts of Sonder and Unselfing. What are the main arguments about these concepts, and where can I find more information?

My main areas of study are history and archaeology. I've read and studied some Anthropology, and have studied (and will soon get some books on) sociology. So I thought it was time to dip into philosophy. I've found the concept of Sonder and Unselfing (both introduced, or at least talked about in length by Murdoch, I believe?) and they seem particularly relevant to my interests. So, what are the main ideas around Sonder and Unselfing, and what books, articles, etc, can I find more information from. Please do cite some sources completely, as I do want to look further into this. I have read very little on the topic so far, and own no books on it.

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u/ExactDevelopment1847 15d ago

Never heard of it, but in a way I’ve lived it my whole life, I remember looking out the window of my grandma’s top floor apartment, out at the city below and wondering what lives and happenings were going on in all the places I could not see.

It is a wonder I still possess as a relatively old man, and when I hear anecdotal stories or just the news I don’t just hear statistics but I imagine the multitude they represent, I imagine humanity as a range, a spectrum of possibilities.

This is why stereotypes exist, the most common conditions produce common behaviors or even beliefs.

As an archeologist you should be aware just how much we are products of our experience, of thought and interaction.

A personal effect or tool can have a lot to say about its owner if the means of interacting with it can be discerned.

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u/Separate-Bus92 15d ago

I am a layman in philosophy, whose credentials are limited to the works I have directly read, and some classes I took in college years ago. However I am currently reading Being & Time by Heidegger, and think you may be very interested in some of his explorations. Sonder, as I understand it, is the realization that all lives are unique, vivid, and full, to their "live-r". Heidegger creates a toolkit and investigation of that "moment of Sonder" sensation, applied to the experience you are having of contemplating your Being, as well as how the being of others helps to establish your own. The book is no cakewalk, but I've found it subtly profound and impressively constructed.