Anthropology of connection

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This study explores the emotional undercurrents of scientific theories of understanding in the discourses of 1900, focusing on the concept of "connections." These connections can represent theories of society and social action, as seen in Simmel and Plessner's ambivalent ties or Freud's repressive ones, or they may narrate the self's emotional and intellectual links to the world. They encompass various dimensions, such as Schopenhauer’s energetic will, Nietzsche’s motivational will-to-power, and the empathic perspectives of early phenomenology, as well as ethical considerations in Husserl's object-driven approach. Connections can also reflect the Heraclitean notion of flow, as noted in the works of Husserl, William James, and Henri Bergson, or be seen as institutional, as per Arnold Gehlen, who argues that humans, with reduced instincts, form links through culture. This study posits that connections are both physiological and psychological responses to perception, acting as implicit yet significant discursive forces. By examining perception during a time of re-definition amid the rise of natural sciences, it argues that the emotional investment in ideas plays an ontological role that is often overlooked. Historical patterns are best understood through the lens of these emotional undercurrents, particularly in relation to the anthropology of connection and theories of perception from 1880 to 1930.