Randphänomene

The essay starts from a state that is typical of philosophizing—namely an attentive consciousness—and from there finds its way towards ‘threshold experiences’ in human consciousness. From sleep as contrasting consciousness when being awake, the considerations lead to the transition of falling asleep as a threshold between these two modes of consciousness. This in turn leads to different forms of tiredness, which also constitutes a threshold experience. The essay focusses on a gradually changing worldview in tiredness. In its final step, the essay outlines threshold experiences on the representational level and interprets the physical threshold as entanglement of the concrete and the metaphorical.

Getting lost is an experience of an absolute loss of knowledge. Those who no longer have any sense of orientation have no reliable knowledge about the world. This essay sketches out various stages of this loss of direction and traces the advice that can be found in different areas: In philosophy, in literature, in outdoor manuals and in mythical material. The highly contradictory recommendations on what to do when you get lost have implications for both politics and the philosophy of science.

What is self-deception? Does it constitute a form of falsehood or deceit? How can one deceive oneself and others if one is aware of what one wants to dissimulate? In order to address this apparent paradox, this essay employs case studies to examine various phenomena of self-deception. Thus, it becomes evident that self-deception does not concern the relationship one has with oneself, but rather a phenomenon that is anchored in interpersonal relationships. This is due to the fact that it is intersubjectively induced and motivated.

The article explores white realities through a phenomenological lens, emphasizing their relational and selective nature. Drawing from key thinkers such as Sara Ahmed, Charles W. Mills, and George Yancy, it examines how whiteness operates as an unmarked epistemic norm shaping perception, speech, and actions. By addressing the “blind spots” of white positionality it highlights the limits of universalist claims in philosophy. The text advocates for the de-centering of white perspectives through encounters with the “Other,” fostering a critical awareness of whiteness as contingent and transformative. Ultimately, it underscores the necessity of “unlearning” to dismantle embodied racial structures.

How are climate and its changes specifically experienced in contrast to changeable weather? In order to answer this question, the article first examines the intertwining of climate science and public debates on climate change. Building on Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological critique of natural science, the danger of a scientistic, one-sided understanding of climate is then explained. Finally, based on the history of climatology and Günter Figal’s spatial phenomenology, a realistic climate phenomenology is developed.

Coldness is integral to modernity—our reality is based on its control. The quest to conquer extreme cold spurred the polar expeditions and the scientific race to absolute zero; with cryotechnology, cold became a fundamental cultural condition. Modern cryogenic cultures have gained the power to profoundly manipulate the temporality of life. However, since this power comes at the expense of those who suffer most from global warming, our cultural relationship to artificial cold must be reconsidered.