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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Book | Chapter

176000

Non-contextual self

Husserl and Nishida on the primal mode of the self

Shigeru Taguchi

pp. 31-46

Abstract

It is obvious that in my experience, I cannot leave my own experience. Given that, how can I know that there are other perspectives than mine? In the present paper, I first approach this problem from the standpoint of Edmund Husserl's phenomenology. Husserl seems to answer the question by his reflection on the "primal I" (Ur-Ich). I will analyze this strange but thought-provoking concept by interpreting it as a kind of "non-contextual self." Second, I will compare the result of this consideration with the concept of "pure experience" and "basho" (place) proposed by Kitaro Nishida. I try to show that these seemingly bizarre ideas of non-individual self might be necessary for our understanding of self and others. Individuals can only appear in a certain context, whereas there is a sort of experience that does not fit in any context.

Publication details

Published in:

Altobrando Andrea, Niikawa Takuya, Stone Richard (2018) The realizations of the self. New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

Pages: 31-46

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-94700-6_3

Full citation:

Taguchi Shigeru (2018) „Non-contextual self: Husserl and Nishida on the primal mode of the self“, In: A. Altobrando, Niikawa & Stone (eds.), The realizations of the self, New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 31–46.