Essence, Abyss, and Self—Hedwig Conrad-Martius on the Non-spatial Dimensions of Being

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Abstract

Hedwig Conrad-Martius (1888–1966) (HCM), the woman pioneer of the realistic phenomenological school, describes the reality (Realität) to which her philosophizing is addressed as “totally non-material corporeality”. With this contradictory expression she seeks to affirm two foundational aspects regarding reality: the spatial that achieved material realization in real existents and the concealed non-spatial that is at the cradle of the establishing of reality and remains present behind its phenomenal and material appearing. This article focuses on three ontological elements in HCM’s idea of reality—“essence”, “abyss”, and “self”—whose meaning both implies and raises the issue of the non-spatiality of Being in a complex manner. Moreover, the three seek the same objective of coming to terms with the force in real beings that will never ever be able to shine in its entirety. By means of philosophical explication of the mentioned elements and the illumination of the dialectic of each of them with the corresponding spatial aspects, this article demonstrates the evolution of HCM's understanding of the issue of spatiality that mirrors her metaphysics as a whole.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationWomen in the History of Philosophy and Sciences
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages147-167
Number of pages21
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

Publication series

NameWomen in the History of Philosophy and Sciences
Volume1

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • History
  • History and Philosophy of Science
  • Philosophy
  • Gender Studies

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