The We and its Many Forms: Kurt Stavenhagen's Contribution to Social Phenomenology

CFS Lecture by Alessandro Salice, Lecturer, University College Cork, Ireland

Abstract:
“We” is said in many ways. This talk investigates Kurt Stavenhagen’s undeservedly neglected account of different kinds of “we,” which is maintained to be one of the most sophisticated within classical phenomenology. I begin my talk by elaborating on the phenomenological distinction between mass, society and community, where I claim that individuals partake in episodes of experiential sharing only within communities. Stavenhagen conceptualises experiential sharing as a meshing of conscious experiences infused by a feeling of us-ness. I then focus on Stavenhagen’s distinction between various kinds of sense of us: depending on whether individuals share preferences with each other, have mutual respect, or emotionally respond to the world according to a cultural tradition, they elicit a specific sense of us and, therefore, form a community of a specific kind. Against this background, it can be legitimately claimed that, within phenomenology, Stavenhagen should be credited with the merit of having unearthed the aggregative, we-generating force of preferences, of respect, and of (certain) emotions.

The lecture is free and open to all. Welcome!