Mikel Dufrenne: the Problem of the Depth of Human Subjectivity (Part 1)

The article deals with the problem of the human subjectivity depth as it is represented in the work of M. Dufrenne "Phenomenology of aesthetic experience". The authors show that the metaphor of depth, peculiar to humanitarian knowledge, had been revealing in the twentieth century by the representatives of the psychology and phenomenology both before and after the works of M. Dufrenne. However, the merit of Dufrenne is a meaningful analysis of this metaphor and not just its use. Choosing a free, almost artistic style, he simultaneously analyzes his own conceptual apparatus. In the second volume of his work Dufrenne defines the kind of emotional and artistic reflection which is not reduced to rational being and speaks of the depth of feeling that connects us with the work. The feeling means for him "being-depth". At the same time, the philosopher believes that in order to reveal the depth of the work, where the subjectivity of the author is embedded, the very feeling of the viewer (listener) must be quiet and receptive to allow the object to master itself. Only then can "two depths" meet with the help of the third – quasi-subjectivity of the aesthetic object.