A Measure of Philosophical Distance
Philosophy, psychiatry & psychology January 1, 2021 Bhrigupati Singh
Philosophical distance—how foreign concepts are received in an existing intellectual territory—is best measured not through complete agreement or estrangement but through small events of thought: understandings, misunderstandings, and clarifications. The author argues that within phenomenological psychopathology, the distinction between intra-subjective (the minimal self) and inter-subjective (social) dimensions of psychosis may be misleading. Drawing on Cavell's counter-history of philosophy, the author suggests that the core of the intra-subjective is vulnerable to and remade by particular others. Concepts like pitch, tone, and intensity serve as signposts for studying both intra- and inter-subjective phenomena. The author also flags a different intuition of distance, leaving it open for future measurement.