Phenomenon and his subject. The concept of the recipient in the philosophy of Jean-Luc Marion

Abstract

The issue of the subject and phenomenon relation lies in foundation of every contemporary phenomenological project, tending to extend the field of the phenomenology. The concept of the gift of the French phenomenologist Jean-Luc Marion is one of the most important innovations in the contemporary phenomenology. In the article, the central concept of his philosophy is analyzed – “recipient” (l’adonné). It is based on his book “Being Given”. The notion of a done is analyzed as well as context of its introduction. The transition from the description of the done to the description of the recipient is analyzed. Marion’s critique of the classical notion of the subject is explored. Four main characteristics of the recipient are described: summons, surprise, interaction and the facticity. Connection between the recipient and the saturated phenomena dominant over the subject is explored. The article concludes with criticisms of Claude Romano, as well as criticism of Shane McKinley in the context of his interpretation of the work of Jean-Luc Marion. Shane McKinley finds the concept of saturated phenomena and the excessive passivity of the subject in Marion’s concept problematic. The saturated phenomena, as the paradigms for any ordinary phenomena, their true form, cannot explain the regularity of the ordinary experience. The passive subject is hardly compatible with the phenomenological method, that Marion tries to use.
To overcome the questions that have arisen within the concept of Marion, it is proposed to expand it by referring to the hermeneutic level of perception of the phenomenon. It is proposed to consider Claude Romano’s “eventual hermeneutics” as a project that continues the intentions of Marion, but is devoid of the shortcomings of his philosophy.