1.Introduction29Classical Foun

1.Introduction29Classical Foundations[微笑]This approach to the body as a multi-dimensional medium for the constitution of society is developed in different ways, and through different terminologies, in the writings of Durkheim, Simmel and Marx. As I focus on
them in this study, Marx is predominantly concerned with the structural
properties of economic (including material/technological) factors,
Durkheim with the structural characteristics of culture (including ritual and
symbolic phenomena), and Simmel with the structural elements of society
he refers to as ‘social forms’ (which pattern interaction). Nevertheless, it
remains the case that each theorist views the body as a source of, a location
for and a means by which individuals are emotionally and physically positioned within and oriented towards society. The notions of source, location
and means are thus ‘umbrella’ terms, referring to a range of closely related
concepts, but their general meaning and relational status are clear: they refer
respectively to the generative properties of the body, to the social receptivity of the body, and to the body’s centrality to the outcomes of interaction
between (groups of) embodied individuals and the structural features of
society.