Universität zu Köln

Breyer, Thiemo ORCID: 0000-0003-0239-3090 (2018). Human Mirrors: Metaphors of Intersubjectivity. Hum. Stud., 41 (3). S. 457 - 475. DORDRECHT: SPRINGER. ISSN 1572-851X

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Abstract

This paper revolves around the question of how we can phenomenologically interpret the application of the mirror metaphor to intersubjectivity. To answer this question, we must first clarify the phenomenon of the mirror itself, and specifically its function and how the objects it reflects appear, as well as the modes of self- and other-relations that it makes possible. We can compare these properties with the characteristics of intersubjectivity in order to find out how sound or significant the mirror metaphor is here. Our goal then is not to show whether the mirror metaphor is a 'correct' or 'false' descriptive determination of intersubjectivity. Redeeming the metaphor in the phenomenological sense would require that we elucidate which aspects of the mirror phenomenon permit an analogy with the Other and which do not. If the metaphor were to conform perfectly with the analogy, and if one could transform it into a verifiable and complete description, it would no longer be a metaphor. In other words, metaphors live by the dialectic of their resolvable and irresolvable descriptive elements. We must preserve this tension in our phenomenological analysis while bracketing any overarching assessments of the metaphor. Only when we have worked out the individual aspects of the core of the matter, can we examine the adequacy of its application to the sphere of intersubjectivity. In the following, then, our task is a critique of the metaphor, in the sense of unpacking its specific phenomenal features, on the basis of which we may then discuss whether or not we can carry out a metaphorical translation of those features. Indeed, even though the metaphor is such a prominent one, the paper demonstrates its limitations when it comes to determining social relations.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Breyer, Thiemo UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-0239-3090 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-175111
DOI:	10.1007/s10746-018-9461-0
Journal or Publication Title:	Hum. Stud.
Volume:	41
Number:	3
Page Range:	S. 457 - 475
Date:	2018
Publisher:	SPRINGER
Place of Publication:	DORDRECHT
ISSN:	1572-851X
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 8: Philosophie > Philosophisches Seminar
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Ethics; Sociology Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/17511