A Heideggerian Phenomenological Perspective on the Concept of Person… Reception Theory

LEONARD, V.W. (1994) A Heideggerian Phenomenological Perspective on the Concept of Person. In: P. BENNER (Ed.), Interpretive Phenomenology: Embodiment, Caring, and Ethics in Heath and Illness. Sage Publications, Inc. pp43-64

“Heidegger claims that these interpretations are not generated in individual consciousness as subjects related to objects but rather are given in our linguistic and cultural traditions and make sense only against a background of significance. (…) Nothing can be encountered independent of our basic understanding. Every encounter is an interpretation based on our background.” (p52)

Annotation:
Barbatsis (2005) has used reception theory to arrive at a similar point as Leonard does referencing instead Heidegger. The context in which the experience is held only begins to make sense within the background of the person experiencing it. As Barbatsis states the meaning comes from understanding and interpreting the parts and whole of an experience from within the self. It is not in the object being experienced as Heidegger states. What Leonard adds to this is to give a concise appraisal, “Every encounter is an interpretation based on our background.” (p52)