Intersubjectivity, recognition and right

A reading of Arendt through Fichte

Emily Hartz

pp. 263-301

in: Elisa Magrì, Danielle Petherbridge (eds), Intersubjectivity and recognition, Metodo 5 (1), 2017.

Abstract

While discussions of the constitution of intersubjectivity and self are prevalent in the phenomenological literature these discussions are only rarely related to issues of right. One might expect to find relevant discussions of intersubjectivity and right in the field of phenomenology of law. However, this field can instead be characterized roughly by the general questions of how law appears for a consciousness or how legal entities are generated by social acts. In order to map out the theoretical terrain for a phenomenological discussion of intersubjectivity and right we therefore have to look outside of the traditional canon of phenomenology. In the following I suggest a vantage point for doing so by bringing Fichte’s discussion of recognition and right into dialogue with Hannah Arendt’s discussion of intersubjectivity, self and the question of a ‘right to have rights’.

Cited authors

Fichte Johann Gottlieb

Arendt Hannah