The Marginalian · People & society

Thomas Bernhard on Walking, Thinking, and Self-Reflection

Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard explored the intricate relationship between walking and thinking, and the inherent paradoxes of self-observation in his novella 'Walking'.

Bernhard posits that observing someone walking reveals their thought process, and observing someone thinking reveals their gait. He states, "Walking and thinking are in a perpetual relationship that is based on trust."

However, Bernhard argues that one cannot accurately observe their own walking or thinking. The act of self-observation changes the behavior, making it impossible to capture one's true self. "If we observe ourselves, we are never observing ourselves but someone else."

This leads to the conclusion that concepts like self-observation and self-description are fundamentally flawed. "The concept of self-observation and so, also, of self-description is thus false."

Bernhard extends this logic to consciousness, suggesting our inherent limitations shape our perception of reality. "Thus everything is something quite different from what it is for us… And always something quite different from what it is for everything else."

'Walking' is described as a philosophical and poetic work that delves into these complex ideas about perception and identity.

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