Voicing Relationality — Phenomenological Directions

Abstract

Prefacing the 2007 reprint of Der Leib, der Raum und die Gefühle (1998), Hermann Schmitz, founder of the Neue Phänomenologie movement, contends that the rationalism of the early Enlightenment, its belief in objective truth and in measurable, empty space, is rooted in a much earlier event: The Enlightenment of the fourth/fifth centuries B.C. in Greece which marked a decisive shift away from a view of a dynamic, filled and thus relational cosmos. Whereas here, humans and natural phenomena are still interconnected, corporeal and dynamically involved with each other, the new paradigm is defined by intellectualism and an inward turn, with consciousness emerging as the culturally-sanctioned intellectual forerunner of solipsism and its cultural footprint: radical disconnection. In this paper, I argue that while cultural paradigms cannot easily be undone, with the help of phenomenological thinking, we have access to a different narrative, an important first step in re-thinking both interconnection and human responsibility in a world in which we have done so much damage. Outlining the contributions of Husserl (intersubjectivity) and Merleau-Ponty (embodiment and perception) as well as Schmitz (atmosphere), I hope to show that the phenomenological focus shifts from an initial Cartesianism (Husserl) towards relationality and an ethical re-focussing. By articulating a model of perception in which every moment of our understanding is shaped by relationality, phenomenological voices contribute alongside other forms of cultural expression to give hope for a different way of doing things, a hope badly needed in times of war and environmental disaster.