Description
Book SynopsisThis text is the first book-length analysis of the problem of the relations between time, sleep, and the body in Husserl's phenomenology. Ideas toward a Phenomenology of Interruptions reconfigures the unity of the life of subjectivity in light of the phenomenon of dreamless sleep, supplements Husserl's analyses of subjectivity through integrating interruptions into the life of consciousness, and establishes a new phenomenological concept of subjectivity, that is, a fractured subject. In analyzing the phenomenon of dreamless sleep, the author develops a new theory of the body, namely, the sleeping-body, and explains the importance of the lived-body in the experience and constitution of time. The author analyzes the moments of falling asleep and waking up, as well as the period of dreamless sleep, and shows that a more complete phenomenological concept of subjectivity requires attention to the interweaving of continuity and discontinuity. This project therefore aims to provide a critical
Trade ReviewThis book delivers a highly rigorous and yet profoundly clear reading of the question of the continuity of consciousness in phenomenological thinking, particularly that of Husserl. Bassiri's arguments are new and important, as the question of consciousness remains perhaps the most popular enigma that concerns not only Continental and Phenomenological philosophers, but Anglo-American Analytics as well. I see this book making a highly significant contribution to Husserl studies and phenomenology, but also to the philosophy of consciousness in general. -- Duane Armitage, University of Scranton
Ideas Toward a Phenomenology of Interruptions offers a fresh look at an old problem in classical phenomenology: the structure and role of discontinuity and disruption in lived experience. Bassiri does an excellent job of bringing into descriptive and analytic focus a variety of marginal and liminal phenomena, such as dreamless sleep, and draws from them provocative conclusions regarding the nature of subjectivity. Rigorous, lucid, and insightful, this book makes an important contribution to contemporary Husserl scholarship. -- James Dodd, Associate Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social Research, New York
Bassiri has written a first-rate phenomenological study. On the basis of a thorough understanding of Husserl, he deals with a topic that has been strangely neglected in the phenomenological literature, even by Husserl himself. Phenomenology has emphasized continuity and the unity of consciousness. Bassiri reminds us that it also comprises discontinuity, breaks, interruptions. He explores the implications of these phenomena for our understanding of experience and personal identity. -- David Carr, Emory University
Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Renewal of Transcendental Phenomenology and the Emergence of a Phenomenology of Interruptions Part I: The Awakening of Phenomenology Chapter 1: The Architecture of Phenomenology Chapter 2: The Unity of Waking-Life Part II: Time and Sleep Chapter 3: Between Past and Future: The Insomnia of Time Chapter 4: The Interruptions of Dreamless Sleep: The Impossibility of Time Regained Chapter 5: Interrupted Subjectivity and the Limits of Phenomenology Conclusion: Depth Philosophy
