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Jack Reynolds
Deakin University
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School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Deakin University
D3.12 Melbourne Campus
221 Burwood Highway, Burwood VIC 3125
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Books by Jack Reynolds
Phenomenology, Naturalism and Science: A Hybrid and Heretical Proposal
Phenomenology and naturalism are standardly thought of as philosophical opponents, and the histor...
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Phenomenology and naturalism are standardly thought of as philosophical opponents, and the historical interaction between phenomenology and science throughout the twentieth century has sometimes been adversarial in nature. While the major phenomenologists have drawn deeply on science, they have often also sought to discipline the reach and ambition of science, with such attempts sometimes provocatively posed - e.g. science does not think. For the phenomenologist, the success of empirical science should be bracketed when doing philosophy, even if it is not so clear that considerations to do with the consequences of science for the life-world are quite so assiduously bracketed. Moreover, modes of reasoning that are characteristic of the empirical sciences (e.g. inference to the best explanation, reduction, causal explanation, etc.), and generally endorsed by the philosophical naturalist, are held to be non-phenomenological. In the opposite direction, phenomenology is frequently reproached by naturalists and scientists for being, as Daniel Dennett suggests, a theoretical trajectory with no agreed method and hence no agreed results; nothing that might play a role in engagement with science, as John Searle complains. On both of these commonly held views, then, phenomenology cannot be a potential research program in interaction with empirical sciences: the phenomenologist standardly embraces this; the naturalist typically bemoans it and suspects an untenable “first philosophy”.
In this book, however, I argue that these understandings of phenomenology (and indeed of naturalism) should not be taken to be the final word, and that they are premised upon an understanding of transcendental phenomenology that is ultimately untenable and in need of updating. Phenomenology, as I seek to reorient it, is compatible with what is called liberal naturalism, as well as with weak forms of methodological naturalism, in virtue of being committed to a relationship of “results continuity” with relevant sciences (albeit indexed to future scientific and epistemic results), and exhibiting due attentiveness to Quinean sensitivity requirements, as I contend in the opening methodological chapter. The burden of this book will be to positively develop this claim, this naturalising of phenomenology, in a manner that does not amount to a Faustian pact in which phenomenology sacrifices its soul.
To do this, the book is structurally organised around what I take to be core features of phenomenology. Although the book will not be predominantly expositional, or historical in focus, a remark from Maurice Merleau-Ponty best captures what I take to be these core features. In the Phenomenology of Perception he enigmatically remarks at one point: “if we rediscover time beneath the subject, and if we relate to the paradox of time those of the body, the world, the thing, and others, we shall understand that beyond these there is nothing to understand”. This seems like an outlandish statement in one sense, tantamount to a transcendental mysticism in which ambiguity is resolved and we access the real, once and for all. Of course, that is not what he means. He means that everything central to phenomenology is somehow ensnared in understanding the paradoxes of what Mark Sacks calls “situated thought”, and also that the paradoxes of situated thought cannot be overcome for philosophical reflection, and indeed, existential experience in general. The book is organised around the key elements of any situation as Merleau-Ponty describes them: time; the body; world; thing; and others. They all admit of a third-person perspective. They all also apparently irremediably have a first-person perspective and transcendentally condition our access to objects. And yet on most construals of naturalism – e.g. for the ontological and scientific naturalist – we are told that there is no ‘here’ and ‘now’ in nature. My book argues for a hybrid account of phenomenology and naturalism that is able to simultaneously respect both of these views, something akin to the manifest image and the scientific image for Wilfrid Sellars, without resorting to strategies of methodological separatism/incompatibilism, which seek to preserve a proper and autonomous space for phenomenological and empirical science, such that the twain does not meet.
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Challenges standard interpretations of phenomenology and science intersections, focusing on time and the body.
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Chronopathologies: Time and Politics in Deleuze, Derrida, Analytic Philosophy and Phenomenology
A battle over the politics (and philosophy) of time is a major part of what is at stake in the di...
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A battle over the politics (and philosophy) of time is a major part of what is at stake in the differences between three competing currents of contemporary philosophy: analytic philosophy, post-structuralist philosophy, and phenomenological philosophy. Avowed or tacit philosophies of time define representatives of each of these groups and also guard against their potential interlocutors. However, by bringing the temporal differences between these philosophical trajectories to the fore, and showing both their methodological presuppositions and their ethico-political implications, this book begins a long overdue dialogue on their respective strengths and weaknesses. It argues that there are systemic temporal problems (chronopathologies) that afflict each, but especially the post-structuralist tradition (focusing on Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Derrida and their prophetic future politics) and the analytic tradition (focusing on John Rawls and analytic methodology in general, particularly the tendency to oscillate between forms of atemporality and intuition-oriented “presentism”). What is required is a “middle-way” that does not treat the living-present and the pragmatic temporality associated with bodily coping as an epiphenomenon to be explained away as either a transcendental illusion (and as a reactive force that is ethically problematic), or as a subjective/psychological experience that is not ultimately real.
Analytic Versus Continental: Arguments on the Methods and Value of Philosophy
Throughout much of the 20th Century, the relationship between analytic and continental philosophy...
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Throughout much of the 20th Century, the relationship between analytic and continental philosophy has been one of disinterest, caution or hostility. Recent debates in philosophy have highlighted some of the similarities between the two approaches and even envisaged a post-continental and post-analytic philosophy. Opening with a history of key encounters between philosophers of opposing camps since the late 19th Century - from Frege and Husserl to Derrida and Searle - the book goes on to explore in detail the main methodological differences between the two approaches. This covers a very wide range of topics, from issues of style and clarity of exposition to formal methods arising from logic and probability theory. The final section presents a balanced critique of the two schools’ approaches to key issues such as Time, Truth, Subjectivity, Mind and Body, Language and Meaning, and Ethics. Analytic Versus Continental is the first sustained analysis of both approaches to philosophy, examining the limits and possibilities of each. It provides a clear overview of a much-disputed history and, in highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of both traditions, also offers future directions for both continental and analytic philosophy.
Understanding Existentialism
This book examines the core thinkers of existential phenomenology: Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Pon...
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This book examines the core thinkers of existential phenomenology: Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and de Beauvoir.
Merleau-Ponty and Derrida: Intertwining Embodiment and Alterity
While there have been many essays devoted to comparing the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty with tha...
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While there have been many essays devoted to comparing the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty with that of Jacques Derrida, there has been no sustained book-length treatment of these two French philosophers. Additionally, many of the essays presuppose an oppositional relationship between them, and between phenomenology and deconstruction more generally. Jack Reynolds systematically explores their relationship by analyzing each philosopher in terms of two important and related issues—embodiment and alterity. Focusing on areas with which they are not commonly associated (e.g., Derrida on the body and Merleau-Ponty on alterity) makes clear that their work cannot be adequately characterized in a strictly oppositional way. Merleau-Ponty and Derrida: Intertwining Embodiment and Alterity proposes the possibility of a Merleau-Ponty-inspired philosophy that does not so avowedly seek to extricate itself from phenomenology, but that also cannot easily be dismissed as simply another instantiation of the metaphysics of presence. Reynolds argues that there are salient ethico-political reasons for choosing an alternative that accords greater attention to our embodied situation.
Edited Books by Jack Reynolds
100 years of European Philosophy Since the Great War: Crisis and Reconfigurations
by
Jack Reynolds
Matthew J Sharpe
, and
Rory Jeffs
Examines the influence of the Great War upon core aspects of European thought in the subsequent c...
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Examines the influence of the Great War upon core aspects of European thought in the subsequent century
Phenomenology and Science: Confrontations and Convergences
This book investigates the complex, sometimes fraught relationship between phenomenology and the ...
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This book investigates the complex, sometimes fraught relationship between phenomenology and the natural sciences. The contributors attempt to subvert and complicate the divide that has historically tended to characterize the relationship between the two fields. Phenomenology has traditionally been understood as methodologically distinct from scientific practice, and thus removed from any claim that philosophy is strictly continuous with science. There is some substance to this thinking, which has dominated consideration of the relationship between phenomenology and science throughout the twentieth century. However, there are also emerging trends within both phenomenology and empirical science that complicate this too stark opposition, and call for more systematic consideration of the inter-relation between the two fields. These essays explore such issues, either by directly examining meta-philosophical and methodological matters, or by looking at particular topics that seem to require the resources of each, including imagination, cognition, temporality, affect, imagery, language, and perception.
Contributors include:
Amanda Taylor Aiken
Shaun Gallagher
Aaron Harrison
Andrew Inkpin
Joel Krueger
Chris McCarroll
David Morris
Jack Reynolds
Richard Sebold
Marilyn Stendera
Michela Summa
John Sutton
Michael Wheeler
Bloomsbury Companion to Existentialism
Bloomsbury Companion to Existentialism
, Jan 1, 2011
Postanalytic and Metacontinental: Crossing Philosophical Divides
This is an important and original collection of essays examining the relationship between Analyti...
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This is an important and original collection of essays examining the relationship between Analytic and Continental philosophy. Analytic and Continental philosophy have become increasingly specialised and differentiated fields of endeavour. This important collection of essays details some of the more significant methodological and philosophical differences that have separated the two traditions, as well as examining the manner in which received understandings of the divide are being challenged by certain thinkers whose work might best be described as post-analytic and meta-continental. Together these essays offer a well-defined sense of the field, of its once dominant distinctions and of some of the most productive new areas generating influential ideas and controversy. In an attempt to get to the bottom of precisely what it is that separates the analytic and continental traditions, the essays in this volume compare and contrast them on certain issues, including truth, time and subjectivity. The book engages with a range of key thinkers from phenomenology, post-structuralism, analytic philosophy and post-analytic philosophy, examines the strengths and weaknesses of each tradition, and ultimately encourages enhanced understanding, dialogue and even rapprochement between these sometimes antagonistic adversaries. "Continuum Studies in Philosophy" presents cutting-edge scholarship in all the major areas of research and study. The wholly original arguments, perspectives and research findings in titles in this series make it an important and stimulating resource for students and academics from a range of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences.
Merleau-Ponty: Key Concepts
by
Jack Reynolds
and
Rosalyn Diprose
Understanding Derrida
Global Arts / Local Knowledge
by
Jack Reynolds
and
Felicity Colman
Papers by Jack Reynolds
Time biases and the temporal faith: Habits and lived-time in addiction and OCD
International Journal of Philosophical Studies
, 2025
Philosophers in the phenomenological tradition have emphasised the relationship between temporali...
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Philosophers in the phenomenological tradition have emphasised the relationship between temporality and various central aspects of subjectivity, including consciousness, meaning, and selfhood. In this paper, I set out what I call a ‘co-constitutive’ view about the relation between time and subjectivity, which can be attributed to some phenomenologists (i.e. Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger). I also emphasise the extension of this co-constitutive view in habits, including in some of the distinctive temporal habits associated with psychopathological instances of addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). On that basis, I ask some critical questions about views of epistemic rationality and temporal biases that are influential in decision theory and in some accounts of well-being and psychopathology. Rather than view time biases as an irrational evolutionary outcome, I contend that what is needed is a deeper understanding of the relationship between lived-time, habits, and motivation. The question of the rationality of time-preferences needs to be understood in that more situated context that involves a ‘temporal faith’, rather than a view from nowhen, if it is to have action-guiding and normative force.
From autopoiesis to symbiotic entanglement
Adaptive Behavior
Enactivism has recently faced criticism for either leaning too heavily on philosophical speculati...
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Enactivism has recently faced criticism for either leaning too heavily on philosophical speculation without clear scientific grounding, or relying on quite old empirical work in cognitive science, especially concerning sensorimotor actions. While one can push back against such charges, in this paper we take a different approach. We will use metabolic and microbiome research as a case study to help make this problem vivid, and to outline a path forward. First, we contend that a closer look at metabolism and microbiota-host interactions places pressure upon some of the core 'autopoietic' concepts of enactivism, including selfproduction, autonomy, and operational closure. This research instead appears to emphasise heteronomy and symbiosis in cognitive, developmental, and evolutionary processes, posing in effect an ontological challenge. Second, it also raises some questions about enactivism's traditional avoidance of reductionist explanations, suggesting that there is an epistemic need for a philosophy of science that clarifies how to integrate more reductive biological programs within holistic enactivist frameworks. To meet these challenges, we argue that enactivism needs to moderate its commitments to autopoietic theory.
Why psychedelic-assisted therapy studies in eating disorders risk missing the mark on outcomes: a phenomenological psychopathology perspective
Journal of Eating Disorders
, 2025
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging intervention in psychiatry, for which there is ...
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Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) is an emerging intervention in psychiatry, for which there is preliminary evidence for effectiveness in eating disorders (EDs). The subjective psychedelic experience is considered an important driver of positive outcomes following PAT; however, conventional study design approaches often overlook many of the nuances inherent to the experience. Consequently, considerable information is lost between the first-person account and its scientific interpretation and documentation. Phenomenology-a philosophical and empirical approach to studying lived experience-offers tools to assess and understand the experiential mechanisms of PAT. This commentary advances the case for a phenomenological approach to PAT research in EDs, focusing on key domains of experience that underlie both ED psychopathology and psychedelic experiences, including embodiment, intersubjectivity, affectivity, temporality, spatiality and selfhood. We define and outline these phenomenological domains of EDs and psychedelic experiences and critically examine current measurement approaches. Following, we provide specific research recommendations, including phenomenologically grounded qualitative research and microphenomenology (i.e., the assessment of short-lived, pre-conscious experiences), to more fully capture psychedelic experiences and determine their significance for ED outcomes. The application of phenomenology to the PAT study design may contribute to a better understanding of how individuals experience PAT and generate testable hypotheses to advance psychedelic interventions.
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40% of participants in a phase 1 trial of psilocybin for anorexia nervosa achieved remission at 3 months post-treatment.
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The phenomenology of psychedelic temporality: current knowledge, open questions, and clinical applications
Philosophical Psychology
, 2024
Current evidence suggests that the efficacy of psychedelic therapy depends, in part, on the chara...
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Current evidence suggests that the efficacy of psychedelic therapy depends, in part, on the character of psychedelic experiences themselves. One pronounced aspect of psychedelic experiences is alterations to the experience of time, including reports of timelessness or transcending time. However, how we should interpret such reports remains unclear, and this lack of clarity has philosophical and clinical implications. For instance, “true” timelessness may be considered antithetical to having any experience at all, and descriptions of experiences involving “timelessness” are known to be diverse and of varying clinical significance. In this article, we utilize a phenomenological approach to the study of temporality to highlight ambiguities in current constructs used to assess psychedelic experiences. In doing so, we advance some preliminary phenomenological accounts of psychedelic therapy’s mechanisms of action, such as psychedelic temporality acting as a kind of counterpoint for depressive temporality. We conclude by outlining how a dedicated phenomenological research program can provide a nuanced map of psychedelic temporality, guiding future research in a manner that addresses both philosophical and clinical ambiguities.
Framing the predictive mind: why we should think again about Dreyfus
Phenomenology and the cognitive sciences
, 2024
In this paper I return to Hubert Dreyfus' old but influential critique of artificial intelligence...
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In this paper I return to Hubert Dreyfus' old but influential critique of artificial intelligence, redirecting it towards contemporary predictive processing models of the mind (PP). I focus on Dreyfus' arguments about the "frame problem" for artificial cognitive systems, and his contrasting account of embodied human skills and expertise. The frame problem presents as a prima facie problem for practical work in AI and robotics, but also for computational views of the mind in general, including for PP. Indeed, some of the issues it presents seem more acute for PP, insofar as it seeks to unify all cognition and intelligence, and aims to do so without admitting any cognitive processes or mechanisms outside of the scope of the theory. I contend, however, that there is an unresolved problem for PP concerning whether it can both explain all cognition and intelligent behavior as minimizing prediction error with just the core formal elements of the PP toolbox, and also adequately comprehend (or explain away) some of the apparent cognitive differences between biological and prediction-based artificial intelligence, notably in regard to establishing relevance and flexible context-switching, precisely the features of interest to Dreyfus' work on embodied indexicality, habits/skills, and abductive inference. I address several influential philosophical versions of PP, including the work of Jakob Hohwy and Andy Clark, as well as more enactive-oriented interpretations of active inference coming from a broadly Fristonian perspective.
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Dreyfus' lack of a detailed causal story raises questions about how AI systems can genuinely embody knowledge and adapt contextually.
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Grace De Laguna, Joel Katzav, and the conservatism of analytic philosophy
Asian Journal of Philosophy
, 2023
In this paper, we consider the implications of Grace de Laguna and Joel Katzav's work for the cha...
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In this paper, we consider the implications of Grace de Laguna and Joel Katzav's work for the charge of conservatism against the analytic tradition. We differentiate that conservatism into three kinds: starting place; path dependency; and modesty. We also think again about gender in philosophy, consider the positive account of speculative philosophy presented by de Laguna and Katzav in comparison to some other naturalist trajectories, and conclude with a brief Australian addendum that reflects on a similar period in our own country which was also associated with the professional institutionalisation of analytic philosophy.
Merleau-Ponty and "Dirty Hands": Political Phronesis and Virtù Between Marxism and Machiavelli
Critical Horizons
, 2023
Despite rarely explicitly thematizing the problem of dirty hands, this essay argues that Merleau-...
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Despite rarely explicitly thematizing the problem of dirty hands, this essay argues that Merleau-Ponty’s political work can nonetheless make some important contributions to the issue, both descriptively and normatively. Although his political writings have been neglected in recent times, his interpretations of Marxism and Machiavelli enabled him to develop an account of political phronesis and virtù that sought to retain the strengths of their respective positions without succumbing to their problems. In the process, he provides grounds for generalizing the problem of “dirty hands” beyond Michael Walzer’s influential understanding that pertains primarily to “emergencies” and singular time-slice actions, and addresses concerns about the coherence of the very idea that there is justified action that one ought to do which remains wrong. Merleau-Ponty does this by emphasizing the diachronic relationship between theoretical principles and concrete political action over a period of time, thus imbuing the problem of dirty hands with a historicity that is not sufficiently recognized in the more static and action-focused discussions.
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The dirty hands thesis suggests situations where politics may override ordinary morality, necessitating a conflict between competing moral views.
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