I have a question about structuralism. Suppose you and I are part of the code. We understand the relationship between a signifier and a signified. Can we say that we share similar lifeworlds, horizons and assumptions?
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Interaction Culture 
Permalink
This is a very good question. I think everyone (phenomenologists and structuralists alike) would agree that surely there is a strong overlap between linguistic communities (people who share a code) and the phenomenological notion of intersubjectivity.
One difference, though, would be the direction of causality, that is, what causes what. My guess is that a phenomenologist would probably think that we share languages because we share lifeworlds. A structuralist would probably argue that our participation in linguistic communities conditions us to accept certain lifeworlds, because language itself constructs them.
So, while there is some disagreement about the order (which comes first?), I think it is safe to say that there is a significant overlap between a linguistic community (people who share a code) and an intersubjectively shared lifeworld.