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Leib

Leib is a German philosophical term meaning the lived body, used in phenomenology to denote the body as experienced from the first-person perspective. It is contrasted with Körper, the body understood as a physical object in space. In this usage, the Leib is not merely a container for perception and action; it is the subject of experience—the condition through which the world appears to a perceiver. The body is thus both subject and instrument, inseparable from consciousness and enabling intentionality, movement, and self-awareness.

The distinction between Leib and Körper helps explain how humans experience their own bodies and the world:

Etymology: Leib derives from German, literally “body” in the sense of lived experience; the corresponding noun

the
world
is
given
to
a
body
that
feels,
moves,
and
acts
from
within.
The
concept
was
developed
in
early
20th-century
phenomenology,
notably
by
Edmund
Husserl,
and
was
later
emphasized
by
Maurice
Merleau-Ponty
in
his
account
of
the
lived
body
as
the
basis
of
perception
and
existence.
In
contemporary
philosophy
and
cognitive
science,
the
idea
of
the
lived
body
informs
theories
of
embodiment
and
embodied
cognition,
highlighting
the
integration
of
mind
and
body
in
perception,
action,
and
experience.
for
the
body
as
a
physical
object
is
Körper.
See
also
embodiment,
phenomenology,
and
the
body
as
a
condition
of
subjectivity.