on Circumspection

" Making itself intelligible is suicide for philosophy."   Martin Heidegger

I was pleased to find this quote, as it may assist me to understand the use of the word circumspection in a philosophical context. In everyday English, it means cautious, or prudent, but Jules Henry, following Heidegger, gives a relational emphasis to it, so that it means concern for others, their needs and plans. This may be to do with managing space and time, or failure to do so, or it may represent the presence or absence of the flexibility that allows constructive engagement. Probably everyone puts their own needs first at times, but some see this as the only possible mode of being in the world.

Self referential self centredness, also known as narcissism, can harbour anxiety, and people characterised in this way, when thwarted, lack the flexibility to respond to reality, and may panic and act out destructively. Looked at this way, the Swirl has a relational origin, but is induced by internal processes.

I'm not sure about 'cognitive breakdown', even if temporary, as I think the ego retains its capacity to observe the catastrophe that assails the self that we call the Swirl, even with the loss of agency and equilibrium.