S. Geniušas at the VMU World Lithuanian University Symposium
During his visit, Prof. Saulius Geniušas discussed how phenomenological philosophy and the phenomenological method can be used to analyze various phenomena: music, pain, war, and the existence of humans and animals. The guest also analyzed Hans-Georg Gadamer’s hermeneutic philosophy and its potential application in the study of history and culture. The lectures were given to students of philosophy, history, and anthropology. In meetings with the professor, it was demonstrated that contemporary interdisciplinarity must be linked to philosophical reflection, where the boundaries of individual scientific fields are transcended by contemplating the assumptions and biases of the sciences.
During the symposium, Prof. Saulius Geniušas spoke about the productive imagination and forms of self-realization under conditions of unpredictability. The researcher discussed productive imagination, which, unlike reproductive imagination, is not concerned with reproducing existing reality. Drawing on Paul Ricœur, the philosopher pointed out that productive imagination can be studied within various frameworks. For his presentation, Geniušas chose an artistic approach. According to the scholar, when discussing productive imagination, P. Ricœur provided numerous examples from the history of painting, showing that art encompasses the current world, but only in order to recreate reality. Art allows one to forget the surrounding environment, but this forgetting enables seeing the world with new eyes.
In conclusion, the philosopher stated that painting allows the viewer to abandon the real world and enter a non-existent world, where they encounter something other than themselves. They are so deeply affected by this encounter that upon returning to the real world, their relationship with it is no longer the same. Ultimately, productive imagination is the seed from which self-realization grows.
The V. Kavolis Interdisciplinary Professorship Program visit provided Prof. S. Geniušas with the opportunity to visit not only VMU. The professor delivered two lectures on the phenomenology of pain and the philosophy of music at his alma mater – Vilnius University.
At this university, Prof. S. Geniušas completed his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and later deepened his knowledge at McMaster University in Canada and the University of Cologne in Germany. He defended his dissertation, which was awarded the Hans Jonas Prize, at The New School in New York. Before joining the Chinese University of Hong Kong, he worked as an assistant professor at James Madison University in the United States.
The philosopher is interested in hermeneutics, philosophical anthropology, and aesthetics, but he is best known in the field of phenomenology. His book The Phenomenology of Pain (Ohio University Press), published in English in 2020, received significant attention and was awarded the prestigious Edward Ballard Prize, which is given for outstanding works in the field of phenomenology.
A year ago, his latest book What Is Pain? (2021, Phi Books) was published in Lithuania. Dalius Jonkus, who reviewed it, states that it “crowns the author’s long-term research and extends the insights of The Phenomenology of Pain.”
Prof. Saulius Geniušas’ visit to Vytautas Magnus University is supported by the Vytautas Kavolis Interdisciplinary Professorship Program, and the scholarship is funded by the Dana Gedvilienė Fund administered by the Lithuanian Foundation. The Kavolis Interdisciplinary Professorship is a collaboration program designed for the visits of invited Lithuanian diaspora scholars to VMU. Its aim is to strengthen the interdisciplinary approach in study programs and foster connections with the academic community of the Lithuanian diaspora.