The Transcendental Grounding of the Experience of the Other (Fremderfahrung) in Husserl’s Phenomenology
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Raymond Kassis
Abstract
This chapter argues that, from within the attitude of supposed Solipsism, the solipsistic ego is not, and cannot be, alone unless its own solitary existence is determined by otherness. This demonstration is based on a different understanding of the worn-out and overused concept of Empathy. Indeed, the traditional use of the concept of empathy already presupposes what it sets out to prove and is therefore a logical sophism. However, empathy can be used effectively if its own possibility is grounded from inside this supposed solipsism. This article shows that the solitude of the ego is paradoxically due to a general Ego which transcends every possible individual one and which, as an intersubjective subjectivity, will ensure the unity of the scientific and the life-world. The ultimate consequence is that the concept of Ego is close to traditional German Idealism, especially to the one which does, and at the same time does not, differentiate between the Ego as mind (Geist) and the ego as Self (Selbst). Reference is made to the author’s previous research on intersubjectivity and to texts published in Husserliana volumes XIII, XIV, XV and in the Cartesian Meditations.
Abstract
This chapter argues that, from within the attitude of supposed Solipsism, the solipsistic ego is not, and cannot be, alone unless its own solitary existence is determined by otherness. This demonstration is based on a different understanding of the worn-out and overused concept of Empathy. Indeed, the traditional use of the concept of empathy already presupposes what it sets out to prove and is therefore a logical sophism. However, empathy can be used effectively if its own possibility is grounded from inside this supposed solipsism. This article shows that the solitude of the ego is paradoxically due to a general Ego which transcends every possible individual one and which, as an intersubjective subjectivity, will ensure the unity of the scientific and the life-world. The ultimate consequence is that the concept of Ego is close to traditional German Idealism, especially to the one which does, and at the same time does not, differentiate between the Ego as mind (Geist) and the ego as Self (Selbst). Reference is made to the author’s previous research on intersubjectivity and to texts published in Husserliana volumes XIII, XIV, XV and in the Cartesian Meditations.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- Husserl, Kant, and Transcendental Phenomenology 1
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Section I: The Transcendantal and the A priori
- The Meaning of the Transcendental in the Philosophies of Kant and Husserl 23
- The Ethics of the Transcendental 41
- The Phenomenological a priori as Husserlian Solution to the Problem of Kant’s “Transcendental Psychologism” 57
- On the Naturalization of the Transcendental 83
- Kant, Husserl, and the Aim of a “Transcendental Anthropology” 101
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Section II: The Ego and the Sphere of Otherness
- Transcendental Apperception and Temporalization 127
- “The Ego beside Itself” 143
- Kant and Husserl on Overcoming Skeptical Idealism through Transcendental Idealism 163
- “Pure Ego and Nothing More” 189
- Towards a Phenomenological Metaphysics 213
- The Transcendental Grounding of the Experience of the Other (Fremderfahrung) in Husserl’s Phenomenology 235
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Section III: Aesthetic, Logic, Science, Ethics
- Aesthetic, Intuition, Experience 259
- Synthesis and Identity 279
- Questions of Genesis as Questions of Validity 303
- Philosophical Scientists and Scientific Philosophers 333
- A Phenomenological Critique of Kantian Ethics 359
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Section IV: Transcendental Philosophy in Debate
- Is There a “Copernican” or an “Anti-Copernican” Revolution in Phenomenology? 391
- Back to Fichte? 411
- “An Explosive Thought:” Kant, Fink, and the Cosmic Concept of the World 439
- Eugen Fink’s Transcendental Phenomenology of the World 455
- Amphibian Dreams 479
- Husserlian Phenomenology in the Light of Microphenomenology 505
- Index of Persons 523
- Subject Index 527
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter i
- Table of Contents v
- Husserl, Kant, and Transcendental Phenomenology 1
-
Section I: The Transcendantal and the A priori
- The Meaning of the Transcendental in the Philosophies of Kant and Husserl 23
- The Ethics of the Transcendental 41
- The Phenomenological a priori as Husserlian Solution to the Problem of Kant’s “Transcendental Psychologism” 57
- On the Naturalization of the Transcendental 83
- Kant, Husserl, and the Aim of a “Transcendental Anthropology” 101
-
Section II: The Ego and the Sphere of Otherness
- Transcendental Apperception and Temporalization 127
- “The Ego beside Itself” 143
- Kant and Husserl on Overcoming Skeptical Idealism through Transcendental Idealism 163
- “Pure Ego and Nothing More” 189
- Towards a Phenomenological Metaphysics 213
- The Transcendental Grounding of the Experience of the Other (Fremderfahrung) in Husserl’s Phenomenology 235
-
Section III: Aesthetic, Logic, Science, Ethics
- Aesthetic, Intuition, Experience 259
- Synthesis and Identity 279
- Questions of Genesis as Questions of Validity 303
- Philosophical Scientists and Scientific Philosophers 333
- A Phenomenological Critique of Kantian Ethics 359
-
Section IV: Transcendental Philosophy in Debate
- Is There a “Copernican” or an “Anti-Copernican” Revolution in Phenomenology? 391
- Back to Fichte? 411
- “An Explosive Thought:” Kant, Fink, and the Cosmic Concept of the World 439
- Eugen Fink’s Transcendental Phenomenology of the World 455
- Amphibian Dreams 479
- Husserlian Phenomenology in the Light of Microphenomenology 505
- Index of Persons 523
- Subject Index 527
