Passivity and self-temporalization

pp. 1-16

in: Victor Biceaga, The concept of passivity in Husserl's phenomenology, Berlin, Springer, 2010

Abstract

For a number of reasons, no phenomenological account of the distinction between activity and passivity can afford to sidestep the question of internal time-consciousness which, in Husserl's view, ranks among "the most difficult of all phenomenological problems."¹ First, temporal syntheses fall within the compass of the passive sphere. Second, as both active and passive synthetic accomplishments are grounded in temporal syntheses, the former can only be understood within the framework provided by the latter. Third, Husserl's account of time-constituting consciousness "sublates' pairs of opposites, such as form/content and constituting/constituted, and invites a similar reconsideration of the relation between activity and passivity.