The Problem of Subjectivity: Dieter Henrich’s Turn (original) (raw)
Contents 1.Subjectivity as Self-Consciousness 2. Non-mediated Self-Reference 3. The Body as a Whole 4. The Principle of Consequence, Practical Self-reference, and Self-determination 5. Some Conclusions References The German philosopher Dieter Henrich has worked on the problem of subjectivity since the 1950s years. In his lecture at the “Kolleg Friedrich Nietzsche der Stiftung Weimarer Klassik” (2003 he has reformulated the problem of subjectivity in the context of a revisionary approach. This is worth emphasizing, since Henrich’s analysis is focused on the limits of the position of subjectivity in the world. He calls his turn a revisionary metaphysics because he sees subjectivity not as self-grounded but as part of an All-Einheit (all-unity), thus evoking a motive of Plato’s philosophy. In the present article, I will first deal with Henrich’s turn to the question of subjectivity. Secondly, I re-interpret his analysis of conscious self-reference (subjectivity) which starts from the condition of primary self-consciousness as immediate consciousness. Henrich also claims to give an answer to the mind-body problem in the context of the much changed questions of philosophy of mind since the 1950s. Thirdly, I consider Henrich’s view of the body (Leib) as a position in the world which goes along with subjectivity. Fourthly, this leads me to his discussion of the principle of consequence and of free choice as well as to the interplay between subjectiv-ity and practical self-reference considered as self-determination (Selbstbestimmung ) and self-relationship (Selbstverhältnisse). Studying the philosophical work of Henrich again I read it, in the current philosophical context, as a contribution to an existenzial phenomenology, given from the subject’s point of view. This is close to Henrich’s claim to connect transcendental philosophy with Existenzphilosophy, yet slightly different. I will finally say something about that from the viewpoint of my own system-theoretical background.
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