05/05/2025
Talk on Critical Phenomenology of Normality, by Lisa Guenther.
Friday May 16th, 18:00 in the Husserl Archives Köln, or on Zoom.
Zoom: https://uni-koeln.zoom.us/my/breyer
We are delighted to invite you to an upcoming talk by 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟. 𝐃𝐫. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 (Queen's University), "𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐧, 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥: 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝", at the Husserl Archives Cologne.
📍 Husserl Archives Cologne / 💻 Zoom (Link in the first comment).
🗓 May 16, 2025 ⏰ 6:00–7:30 PM (CEST)
𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭
Husserl’s phenomenology of the lifeworld affirms the importance of engaging critically with the historical past to revitalize and transform its meaning. But his account of the role that ‘normality’ plays in world-constitution raises questions about the usefulness of Husserl’s generative phenomenology for a social critique of normalizing power. Through a reading of key passages in the Intersubjectivity manuscripts, I identify three tendencies in Husserl’s late phenomenology: expansionist, relational, and generative. I argue that the first tendency is frankly Eurocentric and normalizing, the second supports an inclusive multicultural reading of his work, and the third suggests a stronger emphasis on the intergenerational temporality of the lifeworld, rooted in the transcendental problem of birth and death. Ultimately, I think a critical phenomenology of the lifeworld calls for a more explicit analysis of the power relations implicit in all three tendencies, albeit in different ways.
We are looking forward to welcoming you at the Archives or via Zoom!
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