Abstract

Three fundamental problems are connected with modern philosophy of subjectivity: first, the irreflexivity and immediacy of self-consciousness, second, the temporality and, third, the being of the finite self. The text will discuss the first problem in an introductory way by a reconstruction of the positions of Henrich and Frank. The second and third problem will be presented by an investigation of the phenomenological approaches of Husserl, Heidegger, and Sartre. It will be argued that none of these approaches are able to solve the problems mentioned above in a satisfying way. Therefore, Henrich’s critical thesis will be discussed that an appropriate philosophical discussion of subjectivity cannot consist in phenomenological inquiry, but has to re-integrate the monist theories of the Classical German Philosophy. This thesis finally will be rejected in favour of a non-monist metaphysics of personal selfhood.