Kim Atkins, the editor of the book Self and Subjectivity is herself one of
the leading figures and a central force in the philosophical discussions of the
subjectivity. This collection of seminal essays with commentaries traces the
development of conceptions of "self" and "subjectivity" in
European and Anglo-American philosophical traditions, including feminist
scholarship, from Descartes to the present. It starts with Descartes’ account
of self-consciousness in the Meditations which
represents the rise of the philosophy of the subject and continues with texts
from both analytic and continental thinkers covering topics such as its crisis
in post-modernity and the re-articulation of selfhood, agency and personal
identity in very recent times.

The volume features essays by almost all prominent
philosophers in the field such as Descartes, Hume, Locke, Kant, Hegel,
Nietzsche, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Strawson, Frankfurt, Shoemaker,
Williams, Parfit, Freud, Foucault, Ricoeur, de Beauvoir, Butler, Irigaray and
Mackenzie. A common theme in the accounts of subjectivity in this collection is
the idea that the reflective activity constitutive of philosophy must be
grounded in one way or another, for example, in God, spirit, nature, society,
body, the brain or some combination of these. The different conceptions of the
grounds of self-reflection accordingly emphasize different aspects and give
rise to different kinds of questions.

Kim Atkins aptly thinks that "our contemporary
ideas concerning self and subjectivity stem from Descartes’ problematic
description of the human situation in terms of both natural philosophy and
rationalism… Descartes’ characterization of the human subject in terms of the
mutual exclusivity of matter and thought was expressive of his twin
commitments: science and religion. Consequently, the history of the philosophy
of subjectivity is also the history of the negotiation of these twin
concerns" (p. 2). She organizes the selection of essays accordingly, in
six chapters, the first two of which are devoted early and later modern
philosophy, third is phenomenology and existentialism, fourth is analytic
philosophy, fifth is post-structuralism and the last is feminist philosophy.

Descartes regards subjectivity as the direct
expression of God, and consequently his is a philosophy oriented to questions
of truth and perception. Locke puts science, in the form of empiricism, to the
service of God via an account of personal identity shaped around moral
responsibility. Hume, taking up Locke’s empiricism, tries to dispense with God
once and for all, only to fall prey to skepticism, and in doing so, provides
the opportunity for Kant to play the ball straight into God’s court through his
idea of the noumenal self.

Atkins’ selection of essays constitutive of
continental philosophy tends to encompass a broad range of metaphysical
outlooks, from the theologically informed views of Hegel, Heidegger and
Ricoeur, to emphatically atheistic, romantically influenced accounts of
Nietzsche, Freud and Foucault. Philosophers in the phenomenological tradition
such as Beauvoir, Merleau-Ponty and Butler highlight the active powers of
embodiment in structuring perception and consciousness. The insights and
implications of this view have only recently infiltrated analytical philosophy,
but promise a productive encounter.

Whether one is oriented to philosophy by way of
conceptual analysis or a descriptive philosophy, or both, one cannot avoid a
direct confrontation with the question of subjectivity within moral philosophy.
Typically this concerns questions of moral responsibility and autonomy,
represented in this collection by Frankfurt and Mackenzie.

This collection offers a diverse range of historical
and philosophical sources, and promises to provide useful for understanding
current as well as past controversies pertaining to those most troublesome of
creatures: persons, subjects, and selves. It provides a comprehensive,
accessible and high-quality text that introduces the reader to various ideas of
self and subjectivity in relation to their historical, ethical, epistemological
and metaphysical contexts.

What makes this book a really invaluable and useful
text for students and teachers across a range of disciplines from philosophy to
human sciences is Kim Atkins’ informative, clear and concise commentaries on
each essay. An intelligent and informative general reader may go through the
essays especially with the help of the useful commentaries of Tim Atkins. But,
I believe, it should be noted that since the selection contains only the
extracts from the works of prominent philosophers in the field, even with very
useful introductions of Kim Atkins, its scope is nevertheless limited to
teachers, researchers and students who are acquainted with the ideas and
theories of these philosophers.

© 2005 Kamuran Godelek

Kamuran
Godelek, Ph.D., Mersin University, Department of Philosophy, Mersin, TURKEY

Categories: Philosophical