Foothold

A foothold (point of reference, guide, clue, lead, indicator, pointer, German Anhaltspunkt) is what human orientation holds onto. Human orientation relies and, at the same time, does not rely on them for footholds that at first appear tenable can always turn out to be untenable. As points connected to other points, they do not actually exist, but are arranged, defined or constructed by orientation within its situation. Footholds are abbreviations of a situation where relevant matters of this situation seem to converge. In this way, orientation can, for the moment, neglect other matters and gain an overview of what is relevant in a situation. Footholds proffer themselves, standing out from the other circumstances of the situation, but are selected by every orientation in its way. Footholds are chosen, largely without an awareness of the choice being made, or decided upon without a final certainty.

It depends on the particular needs of an orientation within its situation which reference points it gets involved with. Footholds attract attention and bind it only for a certain time (chap. 6.1). All knowledge eventually emerges from the evidence provided by points of reference, clues, leads, and footholds – none of these ever being completely certain (chap. 6.2). Choosing footholds is a paradoxical decision about something that is in fact undecidable; thus, the decisions are to be met with decisiveness and resoluteness (chap. 6.3). They involve affective reactions (chap. 6.4) and are simplified and become routined by organizing footholds in fittings, patterns, and schemata (chap. 6.5).

XVI, 55-66, 69-72, 83, 90, 99, 104, 113, 137-143, 146, 159-161, 165, 173, 179-180, 195, 199, 209, 276-277

 

Glossary

Reinhard Mueller