THE CORE OF INDIVIDUALITY AND THE CONSTRAINTS OF SELF-SHAPING. FROM HUSSERL TO SCHELER IN THE LIGHT OF THE DYNAMIC BETWEEN PERSONHOOD AND PERSONALITY

Abstract

If we relate eidetic variation to the dimension of the self we have to face two questions:
which are the constraints that limit my free fantasizing about myself? Which is the core of my individuality that acts as parameter within the spectrum of self-changes? This paper leans on Max Scheler thought to answer such questions and develop a pattern of personhood and personality. In so doing, two dimensions of the self emerge: being subject to and being subject of. The former is the key the self-knowledge and self-shaping, while the latter plays out in accordance with the self-awareness one gains thanks to the former. This pair will be interpreted in the light of the coordinates we can find in Scheler’s stance on personality: ordo amoris, individual destiny and ethos. These remarks enable us to understand that the unchangeable core of our individuality is the mode and content of our love and hate, while the range of self-changes pertains to the dimension of our actions and desires. Within this frame, an overarching reappraisal of the emotional life turns out to be the sole key to the whole process of self-shaping.