Subject to error: Rethinking Husserl's phenomenology of misperception

International Journal of Philosophical Studies 7 (1):55 – 67 (1999)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the implications of Husserl's phenomenological reformulation of the problem of error. Following Husserl, I argue that the phenomenon of error should not be understood as the accidental failure of a fully constituted cogito, but that it is itself constitutive of the cogito's formation. I thus show that the phenomenon of error plays a crucial role in our self-understanding as unified subjects of experience. In order to unpack this 'hermeneutical function' of error, I focus on three inter-related notions which are recurrently used by Husserl to refer to the central aspects of error apprehension: explosion (Explosion), replacement (Ersatz), and cancellation (Durchstreichung). My discussion, however, does not remain committed to the Husserlian framework as such. This is not only because Husserl's notion of explosion proves itself untenable, but because the Husserlian paradigm does not make room for a linguistic dimension intrinsic, in my view, to the realization of error. Hence, I proceed by reconstructing the Husserlian terms as tropes of realization, as narratological devices in the 'language game' of error. I argue that these hermeneutical devices are necessary for maintaining what Nietzsche would call the self's 'semblance of unity'. The assumption of one single subject is perhaps unnecessary; perhaps it is just as permissible to assume a multiplicity of subjects, whose interaction and struggle is the basis for our thought and our consciousness in general? (Nietzsche, The Will to Power #490).

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 91,202

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Apriori and world: European contributions to Husserlian phenomenology.William R. McKenna, Robert M. Harlan & Laurence E. Winters (eds.) - 1981 - Hingham, MA: distributors for the U.S. and Canada, Kluwer Boston.
Can We Believe the Error Theory?Bart Streumer - 2013 - Journal of Philosophy 110 (4):194-212.
In defence of error theory.Chris Daly & David Liggins - 2010 - Philosophical Studies 149 (2):209-230.
Error types.Douglas Allchin - 2001 - Perspectives on Science 9 (1):38-58.
Husserl and Heidegger on being in the world.Søren Overgaard - 2004 - Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
The Error In 'The Error In The Error Theory'.Richard Joyce - 2011 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 89 (3):519-534.

Analytics

Added to PP
2009-01-28

Downloads
31 (#488,695)

6 months
3 (#902,269)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Hagi Kenaan
Tel Aviv University

Citations of this work

Husserl Bibliography.Wojciech Żełaniec - 2000 - Husserl Studies 17 (1):83-84.
Husserl bibliography.Wojciech Żełaniec - 2000 - Husserl Studies 17 (1):175-177.

Add more citations