Author:
LI Bingquan, Researcher, Centre for European Studies, Renmin University of China; Associate Professor, School of Liberal Arts, Renmin University of China.
Abstract:
The "subject" and "subjectivity" are undoubtedly the central concepts of modern philosophy. In the second half of the twentieth century, the deconstruction of the concept of the subject or the critique of the philosophy of subjectivity became the central theme of continental philosophy. Modern philosophy has always been under the shadow of Descartes' concept of the subject, while deconstructing the philosophy of subjectivity, people still entangle with the name of subject in dealing with the relationship between the self and the world and the other. The question posed by French philosophers, "Who comes after the subject?" aims to explore the possibility of a non-metaphysical concept of subject. The paper first clarifies the multiple meanings of the concept of subject, and its relation to the issues of the self and identity. It then examines the modern turn of the sense of subject within the western metaphysical tradition and its implications for modern philosophy. Finally, engaging with debates surrounding the inquiry "Who comes after the subject?" it reflects on the possibility of reframing the subject in a postmodern context.
Keywords:
subject, philosophy of subjectivity, deconstruction, the self
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