‘Phenomenology’ is Blue: The Synaesthetic Dynamics of Being-in-the-World
Human Studies June 1, 2026 Marilyn Stendera
Synaesthesia, where sensory or cognitive stimuli trigger additional sensations, is difficult to explain and challenges embodied accounts of cognition. Drawing on Merleau-Ponty's claim that "synaesthetic perception is the rule," this paper argues that synaesthesia and embodied sense-making illuminate each other because synaesthesia's strangeness reveals the complexity of normal sense-making. Unlike Heidegger's broken hammer, synaesthesia is not a failure of practical engagement but, like Cézanne's art, discloses and amplifies key dynamics of Being-in-the-world. Examining synaesthetic dynamics—especially the 'difference in union' of embodied sense-making—in motivation, temporality, and intersubjectivity enriches understanding of both general Being-in-the-world and the phenomenon called synaesthesia.