The Other: Studies in the Social Ontology of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Buber

The theme of intersubjectivity - the relationship of "I" and "Other" - has dominated philosophy in the 20th century. In The Other, Michael Theunissen establishes himself as a first-rate interpreter and critic of modern continental philosophers who have explored this theme. Theunissen examines the I-Other relationship from a historical and philosophical perspective, focusing in particular on the distinctions between transcendentalism and dialogicalism in the approaches to "Otherness" taken by Edmund Husserl and Martin Buber. Theunissen then uses these broad contrasts to uncover the basic philosophical under-pinnings of various modern approaches to intersubjectivity. His examination of the work of Husserl, Heidegger and Sartre, and Buber is followed by essays on the work of Alfred Schütz and Karl Jaspers. The book concludes with a postscript in which Theunissen reassesses his previous critique of transcendentalism and offers a moderated approach to dialogicalism. Michael Theunissen is professor of philosophy at the Free University of Berlin. This book is included in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought, edited by Thomas McCarthy,Theunissen, Michael is the author of 'The Other: Studies in the Social Ontology of Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, and Buber', published 1986 under ISBN 9780262700290 and ISBN 0262700298.