The book outlines the contribution of passivity to the constitution of phenomena as diverse as temporal syntheses, perceptual associations, memory fulfillment and cross-cultural communication.

In this paper, I argue that Heidegger’s phenomenological investigation of boredom offers important clues for better understanding the notoriously difficult notion of non-objectifying intentionality (Längsintentionalität). I begin by examining Husserl’s account of the aporetic nature of self-temporalization and I claim that a discussion of moods can further clarify the relation between Längsintentionalität and the absolute time-constituting consciousness. Although Husserl himself broached the problem of the intentionality of moods, it was Heidegger who gave us a full-blown account of it. I point (...) out the correspondences between Heidegger’s morphology of boredom and Husserl’s analysis of temporal syntheses and I argue that the concept of absolute consciousness has much to gain from being confronted with the idea of ‘genuine boredom’. (shrink)

Flaubert’s Sentimental Education, published in 1869, is a novel about thwarted desires. My essay looks at some pathologies of desire the novel’s protagonist, Frédéric Moreau, may be said to exemplify in order to bring into view the conditions that make desire satisfaction possible. I take the tribulations of the protagonist not as mere consequences of his personal flaws but as significant clues about the mechanics of desire in general. I discuss the ways in which the style and form of the (...) novel mirror the predicament of the desire-driven character, and I conclude by questioning the view that Flaubert’s aestheticism amounts to a banishment of desire. (shrink)

(2010). Picturing Phenomena: Husserl on Photography. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology: Vol. 41, Communicating Passions: Boredom, Love & Shame, pp. 78-93.