I completed my first PhD in 2005 after stretching out the candidature as long as was possible, to ten years. I was passionate about Husserl’s pure phenomenology, and I was creating a methodology based on that, along with a generous sprinkling of Jung’s psychoanalysis. It would all be served in the context of Jean Gebser’s, philosophy of consciousness. I argue it was a logical and theoretically aligned methodology, using intuitive methods. The thesis was complete but the desire to know more would…
Read moreI completed my first PhD in 2005 after stretching out the candidature as long as was possible, to ten years. I was passionate about Husserl’s pure phenomenology, and I was creating a methodology based on that, along with a generous sprinkling of Jung’s psychoanalysis. It would all be served in the context of Jean Gebser’s, philosophy of consciousness. I argue it was a logical and theoretically aligned methodology, using intuitive methods. The thesis was complete but the desire to know more would motivate a lifetime of further investigation. The intrinsic need to know how the unconscious can inform the extrinsic practice of scholarship is ever-present. I have come to know that through creative practice, I can access a state of mind conducive to uncovering universal meaning in everyday, personal experience. This useful ability, which I believe we all possess to some degree, informs the research methodology I call Soliloquy. When I published the book in 2021 (Vallack 2021) I thought (for a moment) I had put it to rest – but no. With a background in acting and writing, it has become apparent that when I act, or write, I sometimes enter an altered state of consciousness that allows the unconscious mind (so much smarter than I am) to inform my conscious mind, through the presentation of archetypes and images. As it is now possible to do a PhD through practice-led research, I have seized the opportunity to explore this new insight, and use play writing and production, as a method within the theoretical framework of Soliloquy. This time my research topic focuses on the concept of judgement – what is judgement (and why, according to the Myer-Briggs test, have I none!)? At 70 years of age, I am again a PhD student, now researching how practice-led research methods might further inform Soliloquy Methodology. This paper will discuss the privilege of doing a second doctorate, the benefits and perceived limitations of using practice-led research, and how creative activity paves a way for knowledge from the unconscious mind. Keywords: Phenomenology; Practice-Led Research; Play writing as Research; Soliloquy Methodology.
