Bearing Witness to Epiphany

John Russon

Description

In this probing sequel to the popular and award-winning Human Experience, John Russon asks, "What is it to be a person?" The answer: the key to our humanity lies in our sexuality, where we experience the freedom to shape identities creatively in cooperation with another. With grace and philosophical rigor, Russon shows that an exploration of sexuality not only illuminates the psychological dimensions of our interpersonal lives but also provides the basis for a new approach to ethics and politics. Responsibilities toward others, he contends, develop alongside our personal growth. Bearing Witness to Epiphany brings to light the essential relationship between ethical and political bonds and the development of our powers of expression, leading to a substantial study of the nature and role of art in human life.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part I. The Epiphany of the Real

1. Initiations: On Method

Rhythm
The Music of Everyday Life
Wonder
The Bodily a Priori

2. Ambiguity: On Metaphysics

The Body
Perception
Attitude
Marks
Others
Our World

3. Learning and Insight: On Epistemology

Insight
Learning as Growth
Humanity and Tragedy
Humanity and Learning
Humanity and Art
Imperatives
Witnessing

Part II. Bearing Witness

4. Responsibility: On Ethics

Sexuality
Sexuality and Responsibility
The Growth of Interpersonal Responsibility
The Ethical Field
Honesty and Betrayal
Property and Universality
Property and Honesty
Property and Creation
Art, Philosophy, and the Imperative to the World

5. Art and Philosophy

Polytemporality and Self-Transformation
Art in Human Development
Property and Self-Transformation
Reality
Honesty
Justice

Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Épistémologie
• Philosophie de l'esprit
• Éthique et morale
• Ethique et morale
• Humanistic psychology
• Epistémologie
• Epistémologie
• Epistémologie

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 07 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438425177
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

This page intentionally left blank.

Bearing Witness to Epiphany

SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy

Dennis J. Schmidt, editor

Bearing Witness to Epiphany

Persons, Things, and the Nature of Erotic Life

John Russon

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2009 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Russon, John Edward, 1960– Bearing witness to epiphany : persons, things, and the nature of erotic life / John Russon. p. cm. — (SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-2503-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-4384-2504-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Philosophical anthropology. 2. Life. I. Title. BD450.R788 2009 128—dc22

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

2008020824

This work is dedicated to Kirsten Elisabeth Jacobson, whose constant companionship and partnership in philosophical exploration made this writing possible.

But it is natural that such friendships should be infrequent, for such people are rare. —Aristotle,Nicomachean Ethics

The reality of the world in which the children eventually must live as adults is one in which every loyalty involves something of an opposite nature which might be called a disloyalty, and the child who has had the chance to reach to all these things in the course of growth is in the best position to take a place in such a world. Eventually, if one goes back, one can see that these disloy- alties, as I am calling them, are an essential feature of living, and they stem from the fact that it is disloyal to everything that is not oneself if one is to be oneself. The most aggressive and therefore the most dangerous words in the languages of the world are to be found in the assertionI AM. It has to be admitted, however, that only those who have reached a stage at which they can make this assertion are really qualified as adult members of society.

—D. W. Winnicott, “The Child in the Family Group,” inHome Is Where We Start From

Learn, in life, art; in the artwork, learn life. If you see the one right, you see the other also.

—Friedrich Hölderlin, “To Himself,” fromOdes and Epigrams

Acknowledgments

Introduction

C ONTENTS ♦♦♦

P 1 T E R ART HE PIPHANY OF THE EAL

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Initiations: On Method Rhythm The Music of Everyday Life Wonder The Bodily a Priori

Ambiguity: The Body Perception Attitude Marks Others Our World

On Metaphysics

n Epistemology

Learning and Insight: O Insight Learning as Growth Humanity and Tragedy Humanity and Learning Humanity and Art Imperatives Witnessing

vii

ix

1

9

11 12 16 23 25

29 29 33 36 39 42 44

45 46 50 53 59 64 66 69

viii

P 2 B W ART EARING ITNESS

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Bibliography Index

Contents

Responsibility: On Ethics Sexuality Sexuality and Responsibility The Growth of Interpersonal Responsibility The Ethical Field Honesty and Betrayal Universality and Property Property and Honesty Property and Creation Art, Philosophy, and the Imperative to the World

Art and Philosophy Polytemporality and Self-Transformation Art in Human Development Property and Self-Transformation Reality Honesty Justice

71

73 73 75 82 85 88 95 105 109 110

113 113 120 127 127 130 132

137 149