TY - JOUR

T1 - Hegel, Selbstischkeit, and the experiential self

AU - Matthews, Paul R.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2024/8/9

Y1 - 2024/8/9

N2 - In this essay, I offer a corrective to the standard reading of Hegel as a social constructivist when it comes to matters of the self by shifting the focus from the Phenomenology to his ‘Philosophy of Spirit’ and ‘Anthropology.’ There, a kind-of self or Selbstischkeit is revealed, anticipating the pre-reflective, experiential of the likes of Zahavi and, by extension, Husserl, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty. I argue that Hegel's conception of the self enhances our understanding of the relationship between the pre-reflective, experiential self and the self of self-consciousness, contributing to the discourse on the continuity between biological and mental life. The self, as it emerges in consciousness, traces its origins to a primarily bodily selfness which is foundational to psychical life. Habit emerges as a vital bridge between this selfness and the self of self-consciousness, offering a dynamic, dialectical framework for thinking the development of the self of self-consciousness in and out of its bodily context.

AB - In this essay, I offer a corrective to the standard reading of Hegel as a social constructivist when it comes to matters of the self by shifting the focus from the Phenomenology to his ‘Philosophy of Spirit’ and ‘Anthropology.’ There, a kind-of self or Selbstischkeit is revealed, anticipating the pre-reflective, experiential of the likes of Zahavi and, by extension, Husserl, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty. I argue that Hegel's conception of the self enhances our understanding of the relationship between the pre-reflective, experiential self and the self of self-consciousness, contributing to the discourse on the continuity between biological and mental life. The self, as it emerges in consciousness, traces its origins to a primarily bodily selfness which is foundational to psychical life. Habit emerges as a vital bridge between this selfness and the self of self-consciousness, offering a dynamic, dialectical framework for thinking the development of the self of self-consciousness in and out of its bodily context.

KW - consciousness

KW - habit

KW - organism

KW - Self

KW - soul

KW - Philosophy

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85201011559&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/d8d18886-9382-377a-9f12-7c0c68fae9b2/

U2 - 10.1080/0020174X.2024.2389994

DO - 10.1080/0020174X.2024.2389994

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85201011559

JO - Inquiry (United Kingdom)

JF - Inquiry (United Kingdom)

SN - 0020-174X

ER -