Associating with Others. An Examination of Key Terms in Husserl’s Descriptions of Intersubjectivity

Husserl’s Fifth Cartesian Meditation has been analyzed more than most other texts by Husserl, usually with a critical eye toward how he describes his relation with another subject as similar to himself. Instead of reading this work through such a critical lens, or even through his phenomenology of intersubjectivity, though, I argue that important terms that Husserl employs here are ones that receive much attention in his analyses of passive synthesis. Terms such as “pairing” and “association,” in other words, have key positions in passive synthesis, and thus it is worthwhile to include Husserl’s analyses of passive synthesis—and related terms—in an interpretation of his descriptions of intersubjectivity. I thus begin with a textual analysis of Husserl’s use of association and pairing and how these are interconnected with the notions of affectivity and awakening. I then inquire into what, exactly, might be “awakened” when we experience an intersubjective encounter. While such considerations might not address all problematic issues with the Fifth CM, I hope that they can demonstrate that Husserl’s descriptions of intersubjectivity are deeper and more effective than is usually presumed.