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The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity

Thesis (MPhil (Philosophy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.

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Main Author: Hugo, Johan
Other Authors: Cilliers, F. P.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch 2008
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access_status_str Open Access
author Hugo, Johan
author2 Cilliers, F. P.
author_browse Cilliers, F. P.
Hugo, Johan
author_facet Cilliers, F. P.
Hugo, Johan
author_sort Hugo, Johan
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv University of Stellenbosch
description Thesis (MPhil (Philosophy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005.
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institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language English
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license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
publisher Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
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spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1998 The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity Hugo, Johan Cilliers, F. P. University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy. Descartes, Rene,1596-1650. Meditationes de prima philosophia Husserl, Edmund,1859-1938. Cartesianische Meditationen Merleau-Ponty, Maurice,1908-1961 Levinas, Emmanuel Deleuze, Gilles Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900 Subjectivity Solipsism Intersubjectivity Phenomenology Other (Philosophy) Subject (Philosophy) Dissertations -- Philosophy Theses -- Philosophy Thesis (MPhil (Philosophy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. This study seeks to give a philosophical account of, and justification for the intuition that subjectivity is not a stable “Archimedean point” on the basis of which an intersubjective relation can be founded, but is instead profoundly affected by each different “Other” with which it enters into a relation. As a preliminary to the positive philosophical account of how this might work in Part II of the thesis, there is an attempt to critique certain of the classical accounts of intersubjectivity found in phenomenology, in order to show that these positions cannot give a satisfactory account of the type of intersubjective relation which gives rise to the abovementioned intuition. The thesis therefore starts off by examining the account of intersubjectivity in Husserl’s Cartesian Meditations (especially the Fifth Meditation). Husserl is there engaged in an attempt to overcome the charge of solipsism that might be levelled at phenomenology, since phenomenology is concerned with experience as, by definition, the experience of the subject. We try to show that Husserl cannot give a satisfactory account of the Other because he tries to derive it from the Subject, and hence reduces the Other to the Same. We then turn to two other phenomenological thinkers – Merleau-Ponty and Levinas, both of whom are themselves critical of Husserl – to examine whether they provide a better account, but conclude that (although each represents a certain advance over Husserl), neither are able to provide a decisively better account, since each is still too caught up in phenomenology and its focus on consciousness. In Part II of the thesis, we then turn to a non- (or even anti-) phenomenological thinker, namely Gilles Deleuze, to try and find an alternative theory that would be able to provide the account we seek. Our contention is that Deleuze, by seeking to give an account of the constitution of the subject itself, simultaneously provides an account of the constitution of the Other as arising at the same time as the Subject. Crucial to this account is the inversion of priority between the poles of a relation and the relation itself. Deleuze argues that a relation is “external to its terms”, and precedes these terms. Hence, by returning to a level which precedes consciousness and the order of knowledge – that is, by returning to the level of the virtual multiplicities and singular events that underlie and precede the actualization of these events and multiplicities in distinct subjects and objects – we argue that Deleuze shows that, contra phenomenology, there is in fact no primordial separation between subject and Other. The contention is therefore that the problem of intersubjectivity as posed by phenomenology is a false one that can be eluded by means of Deleuze’s philosophy. This philosophy is not based on the subject, but instead shows the subject to be the product of an underlying network of relations. Finally, we turn to Deleuze’s appropriation of Nietzsche to trace out the transformation of “ethics” that result from adopting a position like that of Deleuze. Masters 2008-07-14T12:51:35Z 2010-06-01T08:38:24Z 2008-07-14T12:51:35Z 2010-06-01T08:38:24Z 2005-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1998 en University of Stellenbosch application/pdf Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
spellingShingle Descartes, Rene,1596-1650. Meditationes de prima philosophia
Husserl, Edmund,1859-1938. Cartesianische Meditationen
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice,1908-1961
Levinas, Emmanuel
Deleuze, Gilles
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900
Subjectivity
Solipsism
Intersubjectivity
Phenomenology
Other (Philosophy)
Subject (Philosophy)
Dissertations -- Philosophy
Theses -- Philosophy
Hugo, Johan
The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity
title The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity
title_full The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity
title_fullStr The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity
title_full_unstemmed The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity
title_short The other before us? : a Deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity
title_sort other before us a deleuzean critique of phenomenological intersubjectivity
topic Descartes, Rene,1596-1650. Meditationes de prima philosophia
Husserl, Edmund,1859-1938. Cartesianische Meditationen
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice,1908-1961
Levinas, Emmanuel
Deleuze, Gilles
Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm, 1844-1900
Subjectivity
Solipsism
Intersubjectivity
Phenomenology
Other (Philosophy)
Subject (Philosophy)
Dissertations -- Philosophy
Theses -- Philosophy
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1998
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