Abstract

Blumenberg’s preoccupation with Husserl aimed at the anthropological implications of the latter’s transcendental phenomenology. The paper addresses some connections in Blumenberg’s posthumous Beschreibung des Menschen (Description of Man), in particular the nexus between body/embodiment, lifeworld, and intersubjectivity, to critically assess a few of his claims. The paper concludes by turning to two key concepts for Blumenberg’s anthropological transformation of Husserl’s phenomenology: self-preservation and reflection.