The ungraspable as a philosophical problem

• Verfasst von: Kuchtová, Alžbeta [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: The ungraspable as a philosophical problem
• Titelzusatz: the stubborn persistence of humanism in contemporary phenomenology
• Verf.angabe: by Alžbeta Kuchtová
• Verlagsort: Leiden ; Boston
• Verlag: Brill
• E-Jahr: 2024
• Jahr: [2024]
• Umfang: VI, 327 Seiten
• Gesamttitel/Reihe: New research in the history of Western philosophy ; volume 5
• ISBN: 978-90-04-70109-0
• Schlagwörter: (p)Derrida, Jacques / (p)Heidegger, Martin / (p)Lévinas, Emmanuel / (s)Erkenntnistheorie / (s)Phänomenologie / (s)Wissenschaftstheorie
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 189298380X

Abstract

"The Ungraspable as a Philosophical Problem provides an analysis of the ungraspable-of that which cannot be grasped by the mind or the senses. When referring to the ungraspable in sensible reality, we often speak of the "untouchable," the "invisible," the "inaudible," and the "untastable." In the abstract realm, we speak of the "non-conceptual," the "ineffable," the "unsayable." These are the modalities of the ungraspable that are explored in this study. They have been considered absolute by some thinkers, a claim that Kuchtová critically assesses. Her central claim is that the absoluteness of these modalities is linked to a desire to grasp, which is characterized by the desire for exactitude, for the proper, and for domination. First, she examines the role of the hand in phenomenology, more precisely in Martin Heidegger's philosophy, in order to further define the notion of the ungraspable. She then analyzes Emmanuel Levinas's early works, which offer an account of the ungraspability of nature (the there is), and then turns to Jacques Derrida, who has proved that otherness is not only human but also animal and theoretical, but who devotes little space to the otherness of the more-than-human, or inorganic objects. Finally, Kuchtová examine the otherness of so-called inorganic or more-than-living objects (natural objects and artifacts), demonstrating its importance to our current situation"