Phenomenological subjectivity and consciousness – groundwork for an eco-phenomenology

Abstract

The present research aim to analyze the foundations of Husserl’s phenomenology and its legacy, employing its attributes in the creation of an eco-phenomenology toolset. The trend in question focuses on the notable revision of the subject-object relationship, introduced by Husserlian thought. From his repositioning of the reflective subject under the transcendental ego, Husserl authorizes the reconstitution of the cognitive and epistemological bases of thought on a set of entitative qualities, which equates the aware observer to the observed entitative universe, according to the similarity of existential conditions. Thus, the reflective character that sediments human experience is henceforth considered a natural phenomenon, contiguous to other transformations and determinations of meaning conferred by non-human beings—biotic and abiotic, demanding a re-conception of their phenomenological roles as semiotic agents (and, therefore, agents of environmental transformation). The perspective changes translated here provide us with an opportunity to approach and refine the proposal for an assembly (parliament) of non-humans presented in Latour’s work, thereby insinuating that the establishment of an ecocentric paradigm will only be possible under such philosophical conditions. Based on the massive version of this paradigm, the purpose is to review the scientific and political fundamentals for organizing the political scenario in favor of so-called ecological democracies.