Phenomenology of Command (Befehlen)
Phenomenology of Command (Befehlen)

Summary/Abstract: In one of the most seminal works of philosophy, Husserl’s Logical Investigations, light mention is made of the acts of command, and one can’t keep count of how many times their summon ends up with a kind of murky dismissal, dispensed by an eidetic epistemology enamored with the objectifying, meaning-constitutive acts of a logically bound consciousness. This paper tries to show that Husserl’s works are amenable to a more complicated and rich theory of commands that views them from at least three different perspectives: as non-objectifying acts, social acts, and practical acts. This fertile reading is abetted by the concept of intentionality whose facets and multi-thematic development cast many nourishing theoretical seeds for a phenomenology of command. At the same time, this paper tries to cull a few scattered ideas on command of such thinkers as the München phenomenologists, Alexander Pfänder and Adolf Reinach, as well as Eric Voegelin and Hans Kelsen, who all showed an interest in a theory of command. The first two influenced Husserl’s thinking on social and practical acts, whereas the latter two were both avid readers of Husserl’s works.

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