Borrowed Language and the Avoidance of Seeing: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Human understanding is often mediated through inherited systems of language, symbols, and conceptual frameworks developed by thinkers across history. While these systems aim to express direct encounters with reality, they are frequently adopted without experiential grounding. This paper explores the phenomenological distinction between direct perception and conceptual understanding, arguing that borrowed language creates an illusion of knowing. Through this inquiry, the study examines how thought and word emerge after perception, and how their premature use obstructs authentic seeing. The paper proposes that true understanding requires a suspension of inherited meanings and a return to immediate awareness.