Women Phenomenologists on Social Ontology: We-Experiences, Communal Life, and Joint Action (Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences, 1)

This edited volume examines women's voices in phenomenology, many of which had a formative impact on the movement but have be kept relatively silent for many years. It features papers that truly extend the canonical scope of phenomenological research. Readers will discover the rich philosophical output of such scholars as Edith Stein, Hedwig Conrad-Martius, and Gerda Walther. They will also come to see how the phenomenological movement allowed its female proponents to achieve a position in the academic world few women could enjoy at the time. The book explores the intersection of social ontology, phenomenology, and women scholars in phenomenology. The papers offer a fresh look at such topics as the nature of communities, shared values, feelings, and other mental content. In addition, coverage examines the contributions of Jewish women to the science, who were present at the beginning of the phenomenological movement. This remarkable anthology also features a paper on Gerda Walther written by Linda Lopez McAlister, former editor of the feminist journal __Hypatia__, who had met Walther in 1976.This book features work from the conference “Women Phenomenologists on Social Ontology,” held at the University of Paderborn. Overall, it collects profiles and analysis that unveil a hidden history of phenomenology. Series Foreword 6 Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences 6 My Memories of Gerda Walther by Linda López McAlister 7 Contents 10 Introduction 12 Social Ontology in Edith Stein and Gerda Walther 20 Edith Stein and Gerda Walther: The Role of Empathy in Experiencing Community 21 Empathy 21 Gerda Walther and Edith Stein on the Lived Experience of Community 27 Argument 33 Bibliography 36 Meaning of Individuals Within Communities: Gerda Walther and Edith Stein on the Constitution of Social Communities 37 Introduction 37 Gerda Walther’s a Contribution to the Ontology of Social Communities 38 Community in Itself 39 Inner Joining or Inner Unification 39 Present We-Experiences 40 Community in and for Itself 41 Edith Stein Individual and Community 42 The I as a Starting Point 43 Individual and Super-individual Experiences 43 Lifepower of Individuals and Communities 44 The Mind of Communities 44 Conclusion 45 Bibliography 47 Edith Stein on Social Ontology and the Constitution of Individual Moral Identity 48 Stein on “Vocation” in the Lectures On Woman 50 Vocation and the Moral Self in On the Problem of Empathy 52 Social Ontology and the Constitution of the Moral Self 56 Conclusion 59 Bibliography 60 The Ontic–Ontological Aspects of Social Life. Edith Stein’s Approach to the Problem 62 The Community as a Reality: Its Ontic Composition 66 The Fundamental Relationship Between Individual and Community 70 Conclusion 75 Bibliography 76 Starting from Husserl: Communal Life According to Edith Stein 77 Individual and Communal Life 78 Formation and Structure of Communal Life 82 Forms of Communal Life 86 Conclusion 89 Bibliography 90 The Role of the Intellectual in the Social Organism: Edith Stein’s Analysis Between Social Ontology and Philosophical Anthropology 91 A Phenomenological Description of the Human Being and the “Lived Experience of Community” 91 Community as a constituent part of individual identity 94 The Intellect: “Embrace of the Truth with a Gaze” 97 Conclusions 99 Bibliography 100 The Phenomenology of Shared Emotions—Reassessing Gerda Walther 101 Introduction 101 Emotional Sharing: The Guiding Questions 102 Three Contemporary Accounts of Shared Emotions 105 The Phenomenological Account 108 Walther on “Communal Experiences” and the “Feeling of Belonging Together” 108 Walther’s Analysis of “We-Experiences” and Stein’s Double Aspect Account 114 Conclusion 117 Bibliography 118 We-Experience—With Walther 121 Bibliography 133 Gerda Walther Between the Phenomenology of Mystics and the Ontology of Communities 134 The Constitution of the Human Being 135 The Experience of the Others in the Own Interior 137 The Unification: A Phenomenological and Noetical Analysis 138 Mystics and Community 141 Bibliography 142 Do We-Experiences Require an Intentional Object? On the Nature of Reflective Communities (Following Gerda Walther) 144 Constitutive Structures of a Phenomenological Egology 147 Constitutive Structures of We-Intentionality and the Question of the Intentional Object 150 Reflective Communities and Their Acts. Some Examples 153 Conclusion 157 Bibliography 158 The Ontology of Hedwig Conrad-Martius 159 Essence, Abyss, and Self—Hedwig Conrad-Martius on the Non-spatial Dimensions of Being 160 Introduction 160 Essence 166 Abyss 169 Self 174 Epilogue 178 Bibliography 178 “The Reinstatement of the Phenomenon”—Hedwig Conrad-Martius and the Meaning of “Being” 181 The Meaning of Being 183 The “Real Being” and the Restitution of the Phenomenon 185 The Concept of the World and the Role of Phenomenology 188 Conclusion 190 Bibliography 191 Developments on Sociality, Politics and Body-Politics in Stein, Arendt and Beauvoir 192 From Collectives to Groups—Sartre and Stein on Joint Action and Emotional Sharing 193 Groups and Collectives 193 Collectives 194 The Relation of Collectives and Groups 195 Groups-in-Fusion 197 Common Interest and Social Change 198 Common Interest and Emotional Sharing 200 Contagion and Acting on Emotions 201 Outlook 203 Bibliography 203 Women as zoa politica or Why There Could Never Be a Women’s Party. An Arendtian-Inspired Phenomenology of Female Political Subject 205 Hannah Arendt on Female Condition 207 Arendt on Forming Opinions and Political Judgement 209 Female Experience and Feminist Consciousness 211 Conclusion 214 Bibliography 215 Ontology Is Social. How Arendt Solves a Wittgensteinian Problem 217 Introduction 217 World, Life and Acting in Wittgenstein’s and Arendt’s Perspective 220 Unpacking the Terms ‘Public’ and ‘Private’ 222 Arendt’s Answer to the Question of the Subject 223 Concluding Remark 224 Bibliography 225 Simone de Beauvoir on Sexual Difference 226 Practical World and Affective Situations 229 Pregnancy and Life 232 Couples as Social Units 234 Bibliography 236 List of Contributors 239 Author Index 245 Subject Index 248 Front Matter ....Pages i-xx Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Edith Stein and Gerda Walther: The Role of Empathy in Experiencing Community (Antonio Calcagno)....Pages 3-18 Meaning of Individuals Within Communities: Gerda Walther and Edith Stein on the Constitution of Social Communities (Julia Mühl)....Pages 19-29 Edith Stein on Social Ontology and the Constitution of Individual Moral Identity (William Tullius)....Pages 31-44 The Ontic–Ontological Aspects of Social Life. Edith Stein’s Approach to the Problem (Anna Jani)....Pages 45-59 Starting from Husserl: Communal Life According to Edith Stein (Alice Togni)....Pages 61-74 The Role of the Intellectual in the Social Organism: Edith Stein’s Analysis Between Social Ontology and Philosophical Anthropology (Martina Galvani)....Pages 75-84 The Phenomenology of Shared Emotions—Reassessing Gerda Walther (Thomas Szanto)....Pages 85-104 We-Experience—With Walther (Hans Bernhard Schmid, Xiaoxi Wu)....Pages 105-117 Gerda Walther Between the Phenomenology of Mystics and the Ontology of Communities (Anna Piazza)....Pages 119-128 Do We-Experiences Require an Intentional Object? On the Nature of Reflective Communities (Following Gerda Walther) (Sebastian Luft)....Pages 129-143 Front Matter ....Pages 145-145 Essence, Abyss, and Self—Hedwig Conrad-Martius on the Non-spatial Dimensions of Being (Ronny Miron)....Pages 147-167 “The Reinstatement of the Phenomenon”—Hedwig Conrad-Martius and the Meaning of “Being” (Manuela Massa)....Pages 169-179 Front Matter ....Pages 181-181 From Collectives to Groups—Sartre and Stein on Joint Action and Emotional Sharing (Gerhard Thonhauser)....Pages 183-194 Women as zoa politica or Why There Could Never Be a Women’s Party. An Arendtian-Inspired Phenomenology of Female Political Subject (Maria Robaszkiewicz)....Pages 195-206 Ontology Is Social. How Arendt Solves a Wittgensteinian Problem (Anna Magdalena Schaupp)....Pages 207-215 Simone de Beauvoir on Sexual Difference (Sara Heinämaa)....Pages 217-229 Back Matter ....Pages 231-244 This edited volume examines women's voices in phenomenology, many of which had a formative impact on the movement but have be kept relatively silent for many years. It features papers that truly extend the canonical scope of phenomenological research. Readers will discover the rich philosophical output of such scholars as Edith Stein, Hedwig Conrad-Martius, and Gerda Walther. They will also come to see how the phenomenological movement allowed its female proponents to achieve a position in the academic world few women could enjoy at the time. The book explores the intersection of social ontology, phenomenology, and women scholars in phenomenology. The papers offer a fresh look at such topics as the nature of communities, shared values, feelings, and other mental content. In addition, coverage examines the contributions of Jewish women to the science, who were present at the beginning of the phenomenological movement. This remarkable anthology also features a paper on Gerda Walther written by Linda Lopez McAlister, former editor of the feminist journal Hypatia , who had met Walther in 1976. This book features work from the conference “Women Phenomenologists on Social Ontology,” held at the University of Paderborn. Overall, it collects profiles and analysis that unveil a hidden history of phenomenology. This edited volume examines women's voices in phenomenology, many of which had a formative impact on the movement but have been kept relatively silent for many years. It features papers that truly extend the canonical scope of phenomenological research. Readers will discover the rich philosophical output of such scholars as Edith Stein, Hedwig Conrad-Martius, and Gerda Walther. They will also come to see how the phenomenological movement allowed its female proponents to achieve a position in the academic world few women could enjoy at the time. The book explores the intersection of social ontology, phenomenology, and women scholars in phenomenology. The papers offer a fresh look at such topics as the nature of communities, shared values, feelings, and other mental content. In addition, coverage examines the contributions of Jewish women to the science, who were present at the beginning of the phenomenological movement. This remarkable anthology also features a paper on Gerda Walther written by Linda Lopez McAlister, former editor of the feminist journal Hypatia, who had met Walther in 1976