Research:
Abraham specializes in the question of identity, selfhood, praxis, and the body. The specific fields are continental philosophy, the Feldenkrais Method (somatics), micropolitics (political theory), and truth-telling (whistleblowing). In his investigations, he employs theoretical analysis and critique, and when required he combines these methods with empirical studies.
Abraham’s interest centers largely on how humanistic theories of practice, somatics, and identity, can be brought together in productive ways.
His current research aims to answer questions such as: How do we become who we are? What are the practices that shape us and give us an identity? Is our existential status similar to that of marionettes who are constituted and moved by forces – either random or purposeful – that are out there, beyond our will and control? Or are we autonomous and free to forge ourselves willfully? Are these two poles of a spectrum? and if so, how can we move along it?
During this inquiry, the body has drawn many of his efforts, as he tried to elucidate its significance in the equation: How is the body related to the self? In this regard, he studied how the human body is shaped by culture, the experiences of early childhood, the practices that we engage in, the gaze of other people on us, the images projected by the electronic and social media, the spaces that we inhabit, as well as how brain processes play out in the theater of the body.
Practicing the Feldenkrais Method, both as a trainee and as a teacher, and becoming aware of the power of self-healing and self-change ingrained in the method, have added a new facet to this inquiry. The idea of a practice – a somatic method – that disrupts and revivifies patterns of movements, their sensorial layers, and the self-image, is indeed intriguing.
In his recent book, The Feldenkrais Method: Power of Self-Transformation, he describes how the method generates self-changes by analyzing its main principles, their scientific basis, and how they are staged and activated in the method.