<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> A phenomenological approach to anthropology should not propose a static definition of man, but inquire into specific human motivations, which never occur isolated. Therefore, the autonomy-dependency connection is presented as a possible human motivational ground. The notion of autonomy, presented with reference to the Kantian idea of the self-determining reason and to the Husserlian account of self-constitution, reveals in itself elements of dependency. On the other side, the notion of vulnerability and reliance is displayed through different approaches of Gehlen, MacIntyre and Toombs in order to illustrate dependency not as a mere capitulation of the subject, but as one of its intrinsic possibilities, which does not exclude autonomous will.</p></abstract>

A phenomenological approach to anthropology should not propose a static definition of man, but inquire into specific human motivations, which never occur isolated. Therefore, the autonomy-dependency connection is presented as a possible human motivational ground. The notion of autonomy, presented with reference to the Kantian idea of the self-determining reason and to the Husserlian account of self-constitution, reveals in itself elements of dependency. On the other side, the notion of vulnerability and reliance is displayed through different approaches of Gehlen, MacIntyre and Toombs in order to illustrate dependency not as a mere capitulation of the subject, but as one of its intrinsic possibilities, which does not exclude autonomous will.

Der Spannungsbogen von Autonomie und Verletzlichkeit. Eine phänomenologisch-anthropologische Reflexion / The Unsolved Tension between Autonomy and Vulnerability

Gestalt Theory

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A phenomenological approach to anthropology should not propose a static definition of man, but inquire into specific human motivations, which never occur...

Der Spannungsbogen von Autonomie und Verletzlichkeit. Eine phänomenologisch-anthropologische Reflexion / The Unsolved Tension between Autonomy and Vulnerability

Article Category: Teil III. Erfahrungsdimensionen Des Menschen Als Soziales Wesen

Published Online: Dec 21, 2017

Page range: 349 - 363

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/gth-2017-0024

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.