Dermot Moran is speaking at the University of Macau on 3 October 2019 about Husserl and conceptions of cultural phenomenology.
“‘The Unity of a Spiritual Life’: Husserl on Cultural Phenomenology”
Dermot Moran, Joseph Chair in Catholic Philosophy, Boston College & Professor of Philosophy, University College Dublin.
> University of Macau. Room E21-3118.
> 3 October 2019. 4pm onwards.
Abstract: In this lecture, then, I want to explore in some depth Husserl’s conception of ‘spirit’ (Geist) and his overall conception of human ‘socialities’ (Sozialitäten) and ‘culture’ (Kultur). Given Husserl’s concept of an overall, even absolute spirit, how can we speak of different cultures? How can we recognize different spiritual unities? Are cultures defined by their linguistic and normative structures and their ‘historicities’? Has technology now unified all cultures as a ‘global’ culture? In what sense is Husserl’s dream of spiritual renewal possible today? In this address, I shall reflect on Husserl’s concept of cultural development as found in his writings from the twenties and thirties, from Erste Philosophie to the Krisis. I shall examine in particular Husserl concept of cultures as ‘spiritual unities’ and ask whether his concept of persons as monads is extended to a monadology of cultures.