Abstract

This essay explores the theme of individuation in existential phenomenology, focusing on the contributions of Alfred Schutz and Maurice Natanson, one of Schutz’s students during his tenure at the New School for Social Research in New York. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Social Science Archive in Konstanz, I reflect on the theory of multiple realities and its application to issues of mobility and isolation. Following a lead given by Natanson in his critique of “life‑world optimism” sketched in a letter to Schutz, I delve into Natanson’s theory of individuation and his use of the phenomenological method by emphasizing his critical elaboration of Sartre’s non‑egological conception of consciousness and theory of the other. I demonstrate how the existential dimensions of anguish, aloneness, and loneliness, as raised by Natanson, restate the theory of multiple realities, in part through his engagement with phenomenological psychiatry.