Annotation
What does it mean for human being to be a self? Is “self” a metaphysical heritage deeply embedded in our Cartesian way of seeing ourselves? Is it a mere social construct? A result of our narratives? An Eurocentric invention with a limited historical relevance? And if a self exists at least as a possibility of our conscious life, what role does it exactly play in our existence?
In order to better assess the equivocations behind the “self”, we will first investigate the origins of such a concept in Modern philosophy (Descartes) and then address various forms of criticism towards the conception of ego considered as self-enclosed, self-transparent and self-sufficient fundament of our being. These criticisms will be considered mostly from the perspective of phenomenological authors such as Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and Lévinas as well as from the perspective of narrative identity
Our investigation will mostly focus on the relation between self and other. We will ask to what extant does selfhood involve interpersonal relations, how is it embedded in a social environment. It will be argued that one cannot be a self on one´s own, but only as a part of intersubjective relations of mutual recognition.
Attention: Monday, October 22, 2018, the class is cancelled, because I present a paper at SPEP conference in the USA.