Community and the Absence of Hostility: Interpretation and Defense of Gerda Walther’s Account

Abstract

Abstract According to Gerda Walther, a community arises only if positive feelings, which she calls inner unification, eliminate hostilities among people. There are two objections to this claim, which one can develop from Aron Gurwitsch’s critical examination of Walther’s account. The present paper aims to respond to those objections and, through this, to clarify her account of community. To this end, the author deals with Walther’s brief remark on a “pathological” form of community and her accounts of inner unification. Considering those two factors, the author further shows that Walther’s idea is more plausible than it initially may appear. Contrary to what Gurwitsch seems to think, her account of communities allows for conflict and even certain types of hostility within a community.