“Intersubjectivity is Intercorporeity”: A Philosophical Comment on Staubmann’s Sociology in a New Key

Abstract

AbstractThe body is one of the main themes in Staubmann’s Sociology in a New Key: Staubmann wants to establish a sociology that is grounded in the body and that does justice to the bodily dimension of sociality. In what follows, I will examine Staubmann’s theory of the body from a philosophical viewpoint. I will discuss his main claims and relate them to recent developments in philosophy.First, I will outline Staubmann’s position. Then, I will explore the similarities between this position and the interaction theory of social cognition, as developed by Gallagher, De Jaegher, Fuchs, and other philosophers. My main focus, however, will be on the relation between Staubmann’s theory of the body and that of Thompson and Merleau-Ponty: I will point out the differences between their approaches but also highlight their similarities. In the end, I will make a plea for a non-reductive conception of life, which, I believe, is very much in line with Staubmann’s Sociology in a New Key.