The Phenomenon of Fading Off. Some Notes on The Notion of Abklangsphänomen In Husserl’s Philosophy Of Time

Abstract

This essay aims to discuss Husserl’s use of metaphors within his writings devoted to the internal-time consciousness, starting from some objections Jacques Derrida moved to Husserl in La voix et le phénomène. In particular, the essay will examine some consequences related to the metaphorical architecture that the Austrian philosopher builds around the figure of the “Abklangsphänomen”. While it is true that Husserlian phenomenology of internal time-consciousness is set up as a deconstruction of the metaphor of time as “flux”, it seems that, precisely because metaphors derive their origin and force from “things themselves”, they may represent a different way – complementary to and at the same time challenging phenomenological reduction – to archaeologically go back to “things themselves”.