The Phenomenology of Spirit as a model for interpreting social subjectivation

Abstract

In this article, I defend the consideration of the Phenomenology of Spirit as a model for thinking processes of subjectivation in contemporary society, especially considering the notion of failure of experience and the figures of self-consciousness. For that, I divide the presentation into three parts: Firstly, based on the proposal by the Brazilian philosopher Marcos Nobre, in his book Como Nasce o Novo [How the New Is Born], to take the Phenomenology as a philosophical model for contemporary Critical Theory (based on its consideration as a phenomenological work describing processes of subjectivation, in contrast to encyclopedic works, in the dialectical-critical tradition). I critically analyze his book and argue that it does not present the relationship between his proposal for Critical Theory and his analysis of the Introduction of the Phenomenology. Secondly, I find his hypothesis useful, and so I approach Honneth's Struggle for Recognition (taken by Nobre as one of the models of a phenomenological work) and criticize his position concerning the Phenomenology of Spirit, in particular by not recognizing that this work implies a radicalization, and not a weakening, of the notion of intersubjectivity, in relation to Hegel’s earlier writings. I propose the notion of failure of experience as a guide to understanding social conflicts rather than the struggle for recognition, considering it a broader concept encompassing recognition. Finally, I consider self-consciousness in the Phenomenology as a model for understanding social figures and their problems, concluding that this idea can be helpful as a tool for interpreting contemporary society, especially Brazilian society, in the face of the rise of the new extreme right wing.