The Phenomenology of Pain and Pleasure: Henry and Levinas

Auteurs-es

  • Espen Dahl UiT - the Arctic University of Norway
  • Theodor Sandal Rolfsen UiT - The Arctic University of Norway

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.5195/jffp.2023.1050

Mots-clés :

phenomenology, Michel Henry, Emmanuel Levinas, pain, pleasure

Résumé

While Henry and Levinas are often juxtaposed, little attention has been given to their shared views on pain and pleasure. Both phenomenologists converge on the argument that an adequate account of pain and pleasure requires a critical confrontation with the theory of intentionality. This raises further questions. What roles do interiority and exteriority play in pain and pleasure? Should they be conceived as different tonalities of one essence or as heterogenous phenomena? Despite their shared critique of intentionality, Henry and Levinas respond differently to these questions. We argue that Henry’s account suffers from an imprisonment in immanence, leading to a homogenous account of pain and pleasure as derivatives of one essence. In our view, Levinas points toward a more fruitful phenomenological account, both in so far as he does not divorce pain and pleasure from exteriority, and also in the way his phenomenology preserves the heterogeneity of pleasure and pain.

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Publié-e

2024-04-12

Numéro

Vol. 31 No. 1/2 (2023)

Rubrique

Articles

Licence

(c) Tous droits réservés Espen Dahl and Theodor Sandal Rolfsen 2024

Licence Creative Commons

Cette œuvre est sous licence Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'Utilisation Commerciale - Pas de Modification 4.0 International.


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