Subjectivity Viewed as a Process

Husserl, in his late manuscripts, made a number of apparently opposing assertions regarding the subject. These assertions are reconciled once we realize that they apply to the different stages of the genesis of the subject. This means that the subject has to be understood as a process – i.e., as continually proceeding from the living present, which forms its core, to the developed self that each of us is. As such, the subject cannot be identified with any of the particular stages of its genesis. The genetic account of its becoming must be understood accordingly. It is not an account that details the progressive acquisition of features that remain as “sedimented layers” of our selfhood. Rather, such layers, like the selfhood they form, exist as part of the ongoing process, the motion, that is our subjectivity. This view, I argue, is Husserl’s final, if undeveloped, insight into the nature of our selfhood.

Trading with the Dead

Late medieval Englishmen provided for their wellbeing in the hereafter by purchasing intercession for their souls. They traded valuable landed endowments for the promise of posthumous Masses and prayers whose daily observance contractual counterparties agreed to underwrite for decades, centuries, even eternally. Intercessory foundations so contracted were called chantries. Chantry contracts constituted trades with the dead in the sense that the promisees were deceased when the promisors were supposed to perform. I study the special problems that chantry contract promisees faced in enforcing their rights from the grave and analyze the devices they used for that purpose. Chantry founders wary of their fates in the afterlife showed equal concern for the challenges their contracts would encounter in this life long after they were gone. Founders met those challenges by leveraging the economics of incentives to develop a strategy of chantry contract self-enforcement: profit the living, present and future, for monitoring the contractual performance of promisors and promisors’ agents, and for punishing them should they breach. Chantry founders’ strategy was successful, enabling trade with the dead.

Ubi suadebit placidos nox umida somnos (Ov. Fast. 2.635)

A study of a previously uncommented upon window reference of Vergil, Eclogues 1.55 through Aeneid 2.8-9 in Ovid, Fasti 2.635. The paper argues that the allusion to Ecl. 1.55 enriches our understanding of these lines on several levels. First, Ovid demonstrates his own appreciation of Vergilian intratextuality. Second, the allusion suggests a continuity between Tityrus’ pastoral locus amoenus, which Octavian was purported to have renewed, and the family cena that closes with a toast to Augustus as the pater of the Roman state. Lastly, the double reference to A. 2 and Ecl. 1 intertextually reinforces the calendrical turning away from the past and its dead to the living present initiated by the Caristia.

Emociones morales e identidad personal

El capítulo IV de De la ética a la metafísica es dedicado por Julia Iribarne al estudio del surgimiento de la cuestión de la identidad personal en el pensamiento de Husserl. El objetivo, trazado al inicio del cap., es la exposición de una suerte de “arqueología del sujeto” la cual tiene lugar entre dos polos: por un lado, lo que Husserl denomina fluyente presente viviente y, por otro, ese mismo yo concreto “visto ahora como persona única e irrepetible”. Un paso importante en este proceso arqueológico tiene que ver con la identidad vista en el estrato de la persona moral. En relación con este estrato, este artículo pretende mostrar que las denominadas “emociones morales”, entendidas como vivencias interpersonales y, por tanto, sociales, desempeñan un papel muy importante en la constitución y en la revelación de la persona única e irrepetible que somos cada uno de nosotros. Para ello nos serviremos del reciente estudio de A. J. Steinbock, Moral Emotions. Reclaiming the Evidence of Heart inserto en su proyecto más amplio de lo que él mismo denomina “fenomenología vertical”.Chapter 4 of Iribarne’s De la ética a la metafísica deals with the question of personal identity in Edmund Husserl’s thought. The objective of this chapter is the exposition of a kind of “subject’s archaeology” which takes place between two poles: on the one hand, that what Husserl calls “fluent living present” and, on the other hand, this same concrete ego, but “now seen as unique and unique person”. An important step in this archaeological process has to do with personal identity considered on the level of the moral person. In this regard, this paper tries to show that the so called “moral emotions”, as interpersonal and therefore social experiences, play an important role in the constitution and revelation of the unique person each of us are. To do that I will refer to the recent book by A.J. Steinbock, Moral Emotions. Reclaiming the Evidence of Heart, which has to be considered in the more general frame of what he calls “vertical phenomenology”. In this way I try to develop Iribarne’s analysis on the mentioned chapter.

Julia Valentina Iribarne. Obra y vivencia

En primera instancia a modo de preámbulo el autor hace una semblanza de la vida de Julia Iribarne en la cual rememora algunos encuentros con la autora en sus visitas académicas a Colombia. Luego se plantea algunos temas con respecto al fluir de la conciencia en la experiencia, y la constitución de la identidad personal. Este tema tiene de trasfondo el problema de la experiencia humana del tiempo y de la constitución fenomenológica de la conciencia interna del tiempo. La hipótesis que desarrolla siguiendo a la autora tiene que ver con la posibilidad de mostrar como el fluir originario del presente viviente, es condición necesaria pero no suficiente para el desarrollo de la persona y de su identidad.First of all, as a foreword, the author makes a portrait of Julia Iribarne’s life, in which he remembers the time when she visited Colombia for academical reasons. Then he considers some topics in regard of the flowing of consciousness into experience (mentioned by her and originated in Husserl) concerning the forming of an individual’s personal identity. This topic has, as a background, the problem of the human experience of time and the phenomenological constitution of the internal consciousness of time. The hypothesis that it develops, following her (Julia), has to do with the possibility of showing how the original flowing of the living present is a required condition, but not enough, for the development of a person and his or her own identity

The moral (re)presentation: an essay on Merleau-Ponty's notion of time in the Phenomenology of Perception.

The moral (re)presentation: an essay on Merleau-Ponty's notion of time in the Phenomenology of Perception Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to investigate the notion of memory in Merleau-Ponty, suggesting a possible interpretation of the time and memory within Merleau-Ponty’s genetic phenomenological analysis. Ultimately, our hypothesis is that Merleau-Ponty’s understanding of the problem of representation and perception - particularly the problem of retention - places an ethical ground in perception. We will suggest that the phenomenological approach to memory might pave a different undertaking of morals as constructed in the living-present. Our objective is then to point a moral dimension to the process of presentation-representation that happens in consciousness, and establish that our way into the comprehension of values has both a passive and active (intended) dimension that is often underdeveloped in studies of how we establish moral and political convictions. Keywords: Time, Memory, Representation, Perception, Ethics A (re)presentação moral: um ensaio sobre a noção de tempo de Merleau-Ponty na Fenomenologia da Percepção Resumo: O propósito desse ensaio é instigar a ideia de memória em Merleau-Ponty, sugerindo uma possível interpretação de tempo e memória dentro da análise genética-fenomenológica de Merleau-Ponty. Em última medida, nossa hipótese é que o entendimento de Merleau-Ponty sobre o problema da representação e da percepção - particularmente o problema da retenção - coloca um fundamento ético para a percepção. Nós iremos sugerir que a abordagem fenomenológica para a memória pode nos dar um diferente modo de análise da moral enquanto construída no presente-vivido. Nosso objetivo é então apontar para uma dimensão moral para o processo de apresentação-representação que acontece na consciência e estabelecê-lo como um caminho para nossa representação consciente, entendendo que nosso modo de compreensão tem tanto uma dimensão intencionalmente ativa quanto passiva que é frequentemente pouco desenvolvida em estudos sobre nossos estabelecimento de convicções morais e políticas. Palavras chaves: Tempo, Memória, Representação, Percepção, Ética La (re)presentación moral: un ensayo sobre la noción de tiempo de Merleau-Ponty en la Fenomenología de la Percepción Resumen: El propósito de este ensayo es instigar la idea de memoria en Merleau-Ponty, sugiriendo una posible interpretación del tiempo y la memoria dentro del análisis genético-fenomenológico de Merleau-Ponty. En última instancia, nuestra hipótesis es que la comprensión de Merleau-Ponty del problema de la representación y la percepción, particularmente el problema de la retención, sienta una base ética para la percepción. Sugeriremos que el enfoque fenomenológico de la memoria puede darnos un modo diferente de análisis moral a medida que se integra en el presente. Nuestro objetivo es, entonces, señalar una dimensión moral al proceso de presentación-representación que tiene lugar en la conciencia y establecerlo como un camino hacia nuestra representación consciente, entendiendo que nuestro modo de comprensión tiene una dimensión intencionalmente activa y pasiva que a menudo se entiende mal. desarrollado en estudios de nuestro establecimiento de creencias morales y políticas. Palavras clave: Tiempo, Memoria, Representación, Percepción, Ética Data de registro: 03/09/2019 Data de aceite: 22/07/2020

On the “Green” of the “Golden Tree” of Life

This essay has as a keystone the words in which Husserl identifies life with the flux of lived experiences. It attempts a phenomenological approach to primary consciousness. Starting from the reduction to the sphere of “my ownness”, it then makes reference to the issue of the “living present” (two important themes where life is at stake); afterwards, it goes to the notion of reason in Husserl in its relationship with life and the lived experiences of the feeling of being alive, such as “connatus” as originary intuition, and the concept, stemming from Ortega y Gasset, of “living reason” (razón vital). As a last issue, a description is made of those features of life expounded by Husserl that can be interpreted in reference to “the green of the golden tree”.Este estudio tiene como clave de bóveda la frase en que Husserl identifica la vida con el fluir de las vivencias. Intenta una aproximación fenomenológica a la conciencia primaria. Parte de la reducción al ámbito de ”lo mío propio”. A continuación se hace referencia al tema del “presente viviente” (dos temas importantes caracterizados por la vida); luego se pasa a la concepción de la razón en Husserl en relación con la vida y las vivencias del sen-timiento de vivir, tales como “conatus” como intuición originaria, y al concepto orteguiano de razón vital. Como última cuestión, se estudian los rasgos de la vida expuestos por Husserl que puedan ser interpretados con referencia a “el verde del árbol dorado”.

La responsabilidad como fundamento último de la filosofía

Frecuentemente se ha señalado a la fenomenología de Husserl como una "filosofía de la fundación última y radical auto-responsabilidad." Aquí, sin embargo, examinaremos qué sentido puede tener hablar de "fundación última" y "auto-responsabilidad radical" en filosofía. La "idea de la filosofía" que propone Husserl como una "ciencia universal y rigurosa" de "fundación última" ha sido malinterpretada por sus críticos contemporáneos, que no han prestado atención a su aclaración que esta idea "ha de ser realizada sólo mediante valideces relativas y temporales en un proceso histórico infinito", ni tampoco al hecho que él ya ha replanteado la noción moderna de razón. Que la filosofía ha de proveer una fundación última a toda efectuación de la razón, así como su propia justificación sólo significa que es últimamente responsable de todo sentido y validez en general, así como de sí misma. Empero, el ego consciente activo, con sus efectuaciones racionales –cognitivas, volitivas y emotivas– como el "fundamento absoluto de todas mis validaciones", es precedido por un estrato más profundo, pre-consciente, irracional y pasivo de tendencias emotivas y desiderativas, impulsos e instintos hacia la conciencia y la racionalidad. Así, todo "evidenciar" y Geltungsfundierung se ve finalmente absorbido en una Genesisfundierung. En última instancia, ninguna "evidencia" racional puede ser "adecuada", sino que es esencialmente abierta e inadecuada. La tan criticada "conciencia absoluta" de Husserl está en efecto enraizada en un "absoluto más definitivo y verdadero", a saber, la identidad y diferencia del presente viviente estático-fluyente que pertenece a un ser finito, temporal, perspectivista, encarnado e intersubjetivo. La defensa de la razón y del "discurso fundacional" es para Husserl una cuestión de la "supervivencia de la humanidad" y su preservación de la barbarie. Pero no es una "adquisición permanente" sino la responsabilidad de una "tarea infinita". Así, la filosofía es una "ciencia todo-abarcadora fundada en un fundamento absoluto [...] aunque por cierto bajo la forma de un programa sin fin".Husserl’s phenomenology has been frequently referred to as a “philosophy of ultimate foundation and radical self-responsibility.” Yet here we will examine philosophy’s notion of “ultimate foundation” as “radical self-responsibility.” The “idea of philosophy” that Husserl proposes as a “universal and rigorous science” of “ultimate foundation” has been grossly misinterpreted by his contemporary critics, who have not paid heed to his clarifica-tion that this idea is “to be realized only by way of relative and temporary validities and in an infinite historical process,” nor to the fact that he has already recasted the traditional Modern notion of reason. That philosophy is called upon to provide an ultimate foundation to every accomplishment of reason, as well as its own justification, means that it is ultimately responsible for every sense and validity in general, and for itself. However, the active conscious ego, with its rational –cognitive, volitional and emotional– accomplishments, as the “absolute foundation of all my validations,” is preceded by a deeper, pre-conscious, irrational, and passive stratum of emotional and desiderative tendencies, impulses, instincts and strivings towards consciousness and rationality. Thus every “evidencing” and Geltungsfundierung is finally absorbed within Genesisfundierung. Ultimately no rational “evidence” can ever be “adequate,” but is essentially openended, and inadequate. Husserl’s much criticized “absolute consciousness” is in fact an “absolute” rooted in a “more definite and true absolute,” namely, the identity and difference of the static-fluent living present belonging to a finite, temporal, perspectivist, incarnate and intersubjective being. The defense of reason and of “foundational discourse” is for Husserl a question of “humanity’s survival” and its preservation from barbarity. Yet it is not a “permanent acquisition” but the responsibility of an “infinite task.” Thus philosophy is an “all-embracing science grounded on an absolute foundation [...] though of course in the form of an endless program."