Researching the Phenomenon of Judgement using Performance-Practice-led Methods within Soliloquy Methodology

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 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.