Beyond the fringe: James, Gurwitsch, and the conscious horizon

Journal/Book: J Mind Behav. 1999; 20: PO Box 522 Village Station, New York, NY 10014, USA. Inst Mind Behavior Inc. 211-227.

Abstract: All our conscious experiences, linguistic and nonlinguistic, are bound up with and dependent on a background that is vague, unexpressed, and sometimes unconscious. The combination of William James's concept of ''fringes'' coupled with Aaron Gurwitsch's analysis of the field of consciousness provides a general structure in which to embed phenomenal descriptions, enabling fringe phenomena to be understood, in part, relative to other experiences. I will argue, drawing on examples from Drew Leder's book, The Absent Body, that specific and detailed phenomena can and should be interrelated through James's and Gurwitsch's analyses. I am proposing first chat phenomenological descriptions in general could benefit from explicit consideration of the context of the phenomena within the totality of the field of consciousness, and second, that establishing that context requires a general structural model of that field, similar to that provided by Gurwitsch.

Note: Article Brown SR, 714 Ingleside Dr, Columbia,MO 65201 USA

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