Anonymity: A Study in the Philosophy of Alfred Schutz (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) [Hardcover]

Maurice Alexander Natanson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr (October 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253307465
• ISBN-13: 978-0253307460
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,641,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Natanson has clearly done his homework..., October 24, 2000

By 

M. PARADISO-MICHAU (Columbus, OH (USA)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anonymity: A Study in the Philosophy of Alfred Schutz (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy) (Hardcover)

The late, great, Maurice Natanson, himself a student and friend of Alfred Schutz, was told by Schutz, "Maybe you will discover that anonymity and death are the same." This profound thought underlies the entire text, as Natanson explores the causes and effects of anonymity (also called abstraction, typification, alienation, or as Dr. Martin Luther King has called it, "the darkness of nobody-ness").. Natanson reminds us that anonymity is not always a bad thing, but when it is instituted as a system upon unwilling participants, then it becomes problematic.

Also, I would recommend the work of Lewis R. Gordon, who adapts Schutz's and Natanson's theories of anonymity to discuss issues of antiblack racism and Africana thought. Gordon's "Existentia Africana," "Her Majesty's Other Children," and "Fanon and the Crisis of European Man" are suggested.