The article focuses on the ontological foundations of lifeworld as Being taken for granted and viewed as a communication phenomenon par excellence, conceptualized as signifying in the presence of others. It is argued that, because there is always a wider horizon of experience against which anything can appear, lifeworld as something continuous can only be thematized in discrete scientific forms. In the article, lifeworld is discussed through the perspectives of four different sciences. From the natural science perspective, lifeworld is conceptualized (...) as an arrangement contingent on the interconnections of human and nonhuman beings. It takes the form of conversation and can be best examined by Conversation Analysis. From the social science perspective, lifeworld is conceptualized as an order that is constituted by symbolic interactions and guided by relevant types and rules that structure our experience. It takes the form of intersubjective action as a meaningful back and forth and can be best examined by Discourse Analysis. From the cultural sciences perspective, lifeworld is the realm of spirit passed from generation to generation that gives human culture its meaning. It takes the form of significant expressions and can be best examined by Textual Hermeneutic Analysis. And, from the philosophical perspective, lifeworld is constituted by phenomena that appear, or monstrate themselves, to consciousness. This lifeworld is of absolute reversibility and immediacy and can be best examined by Critical Analysis, i.e., by postulating our relation to any object through contemplation. Thus, as Being, lifeworld is said in many ways, each lifeworld being relevant in its own way by providing a valuable resource – physico-biological, normative, significational, and transcendental. (shrink)

The nature of communication can be theorized in many different ways, e.g. as ritual, storytelling, deliberation, rational argument, dissemination, articulation, translation, and even failure. In the present article communication is conceptualized as a (dialogic) process of conversation between the subject and the object as the Other; however, this conceptualization goes beyond its treatment as a simple reciprocal exchange of messages. First, a more nuanced and layered understanding of the role of the Other in communication is given; it is described what (...) it means to be existentially bound with the object and engaged with the Other in a conversation as a process of interpretation and signification. Secondly, the importance of time in this process is highlighted; it is argued that communication can be understood more adequately when treated as a process of temporalizing of meaning. And, thirdly, the aporia of communication as conversation is discussed; it is shown how intersubjectivity and reciprocity can be reified and abused. Overall, it is concluded that the nature of communication as a complex process of common human experience calls for other theoretical perspectives. (shrink)

Review of: Embodiment, Relation, Community: A Continental Philosophy of Communication, Garnet Butchart (2019) University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 199 pp., ISBN 978-0-27108-325-4, h/bk, $80.95.

The present article focuses on listening conceptualized as an active process of perception, with no fixed boundaries, directly connected to thought, and highlighting the ethical underpinnings of communication. Overall, listening is discussed as the primary and authentic characteristic of being with a double movement – towards the Other and towards oneself. A close link between obedience and listening is emphasized, which is demonstrated by emplying the Russian equivalent of the verb ‘to obey’ and the peculiarities of its cases. The dynamic (...) nature of listening is also discussed in terms of metaphor (transfer based on similarity) and metonymy (transfer based on contiguity). It is argued that listening reveals the liminal and sacred nature of communication. (shrink)