In this thesis, I will discuss what the self-image is and what it can tell us about the position of the self in intersubjective relations. I will do this by answering the question: What is the self...Show moreIn this thesis, I will discuss what the self-image is and what it can tell us about the position of the self in intersubjective relations. I will do this by answering the question: What is the self-image? It is by its very definition, not an individualising image, which means it is a process that puts the self as being opposed to its surroundings but is a connecting and inherently harmonising mental process. It is inherently an image both of, and formed by, the horizon of the self. To explain this, I will use the understanding of a horizon given to us by Edmund Husserl. Even though this concept is found in a theory that gives us an individualising understanding of the self-image, it will show us that it is indeed not individualising but harmonising. By individualising I mean the affirmation of the identity of the self as a being moving through a space full of Others and objects alien to him. As such the self-experiences themselves as being opposed to them and in some cases clearly in a power struggle with the Other. Harmonising means that the world within the horizon appears as being inherently part of the identity of the self. As such it shows the self as not being surrounded by foreign things but by things that are already a part of it.Show less
If one looks at love in popular culture one sees that the current attitude towards love is one of idolatry. This thesis explains what this popular conception of love is (largely) based on. Current...Show moreIf one looks at love in popular culture one sees that the current attitude towards love is one of idolatry. This thesis explains what this popular conception of love is (largely) based on. Current love has its roots in Christianity and thus, by extension, Platonic thought. This thesis therefore examines some of the most essential characteristics of love in Christianity. These characteristics help to analyze the resemblance between love in Christianity and love in popular culture. Furthermore this thesis explores whether or not popular love could have been born out of ancient Greek philosophy or that these resemblances between popular and Christian love come from the fact that both schools are simply right about the nature of love. It is for that reason that this thesis briefly examines the potential heritage (of love) between Christianity and ancient Greece. Moreover, while it is impossible to prove that Christianity and popular culture are not right about love, this thesis provides a secular conceptualization of love which does not share the previously mentioned essential characteristics. This conceptualization ‘love as bestowal and affirmation’ is deeply rooted in the works of Singer, May and Nietzsche and will provide a secular view on love. This to show that it is possible to create a probably conceptualization of love completely separate from the Christian framework.Show less
