Social acts as intersubjective willing actions

Esteban Marín Ávila

pp. 245-261

in: Marta Ubiali, Maren Wehrle (eds), Feeling and value, willing and action, Berlin, Springer, 2015

Abstract

In this chapter I explore the phenomenological structure of a type of intentional act which I believe to be very important in Husserl's conception of the constitution of intersubjectivity: the social act. Relying mainly on some key passages in Husserl and on some descriptions made by his pupil Adolf Reinach, I describe the volitive structure of these acts and comment on their foundation in experiences of valuing. One of my central points is that social acts form a certain class of intentional acts which are essentially intersubjective. These intersubjective willing actions play a key role in the constitution of social communities and institutions. For this reason the phenomenological analysis of their volitive structures and of their axiological foundations might contribute towards reflecting upon social problems that have been alien to phenomenology until now.

Cited authors

Husserl Edmund

Reinach Adolf