Aufmerkung: The Act of Attention

My reflection for this week is based on an idea that I once had for a philosophy paper that never materialized. In the 18^thcentury Immanuel Kant wrote a trilogy on reason – his Critique of Pure Reason, Critique of Practical Reason, and Critique of Judgment, which analyzed the conditions for the possibility of knowing, doing, and feeling. In other words, they address the three realms of philosophy we often call reason, ethics, and art. There is a moment in Kant’s first Critique that, I think, goes under-noticed. He begins describing the synthesis of perceptions and concepts with the dependent clause, “In every act of attention…” – or aufmerkung in German, which can mean a variety of things, and literally refers to the act of “marking out.” I think that dependent clause points to a significant and primary step in the process of knowing. Before perceiving with our senses and before connecting what we perceive with a concept that we already have in our minds, we must pay attention to something. I remember my philosophy professor, Günter Zöller standing at the front of our class at the University of Iowa, and how deliberately I had to ignore the ugly brickwork and tinted windows behind him, in order to focus on his mouth as my hearing loss and his thick accent made it difficult to understand his lectures. That was my act of attention – a deliberate focusing on the particular and tuning out all the rest – that was necessary for me to gain anything from that class. It deserves more than a dependent clause – the “act of attention” is the key to comprehension. 

So, “aufmerkung” is my word for 2019. What am I “marking out”? To what am I giving attention? What am I deliberately not seeing, not hearing, not feeling, in order to focus myself on what needs to be seen, heard, or felt? In a world where we are bombarded with a plethora of sounds, sights, and emotions, this act of silencing others in order to hear one could be the most important thing we do. My hope in 2019 is to give attention to the important and not to be distracted by the unimportant. I could use your prayers in that endeavor. 

Mark of St. Mark