○ CONTINENTAL PHILOSOPHY

Continental Philosophy writing

“C’est à cause de cette identité en elle de l’apparence et de l’existence qu’elle peut être considérée comme l’absolu.”

“It is because of this identity in it of appearance and existence that it can be considered as the absolute.”

The Rocker,Jean-Paul Sartre, L’être et le néant, Édition Gallimard, 1943, p.25.

Continental philosophy, known for its complexity and diversity

‘Continental philosophy’ began as a general term used by Anglo-American analytic philosophers to refer to various philosophical trends on the European continent with different analytic philosophies and academic methodologies, and came to be commonly used. Usually refers to German and French philosophy. Continental philosophy approaches philosophy from the perspectives of various humanities, including sociology, history, and art. Therefore, philosophical trends are very diverse. The following is a branch of continental philosophy, Phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, Marxism, critical theory, structuralism, postmodernism.

Husserl’s Phenomenology

Husserl’s phenomenology influenced many 20th-century philosophers and laid the groundwork for existentialism, hermeneutics, and post-structuralism.

French Phenomenology

  • Jean-Paul Sartre: Sartre combined phenomenology with existentialism. He focused on human freedom, choice, and the responsibility that comes with them and Sartre distinguished between ‘being-for-itself’ (consciousness) and ‘being-in-itself’ (the world of objects), exploring the tension between these modes of being.
  • Maurice, Merleau-Ponty: Merleau-Ponty emphasized the role of the body in perception and experience. He critiqued the Cartesian mind-body dualism and argued for the primacy of perception, where the body is not just a physical object but a vehicle of being in the world. Also, he explored how we are inherently intertwined with the world and other people, focusing on the lived experience rather than abstract theorizing.
  • Emmanuel Levinas: Levinas argued for the primacy of ethics in philosophy. He emphasized the encounter with the ‘Other’ as the foundational moment of ethical responsibility. He critiqued the Western philosophical tradition for its focus on knowledge and totality, advocating for an approach that respects the irreducible alterity of the Other.

Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics, the art and science of interpretation, originally focused on texts, especially religious and legal texts. Friedrich Schleiermacher and Wilhelm Dilthey expanded it to a general methodology for understanding in the humanities. Typically, H-G.,Gadamer through Heidegger.