Expo22 Daily Experience

CONCEPT
 It is presented as a reality interpreted by the subjective meaning of a coherent

world.
 originates in the thoughts and actions of ordinary members of a society
 The reality of everyday life is apprehended as ordered. Language is what marks the
coordinates of life in society and fills that life with significant objects.
 The reality of everyday life is a world that is common to many men.
 The reality of daily life covers two types of sectors:
— some are apprehended by routine.
— others are problematic.
The world of everyday life is not only taken for granted as reality by ordinary members of
society in the subjectively meaningful behavior of their lives. It is a world that originates in
your thoughts and actions, and is sustained as real by them. Before undertaking our main task
we must, therefore, try to clarify the foundations of knowledge in everyday life, namely, the
objectifications of the subjective processes (and meanings) through which the intersubjective
world of common sense is constituted. .
Consciousness is always intentional, always pointing or directed at objects. We can never

apprehend any such supposed substratum of consciousness as such, but only the consciousness
of this or that. This is what happens whether the object of consciousness is experienced as part
of an external physical world, or is apprehended as an element of an internal subjective reality.
Whether I (first person singular, which here and in the following examples takes the place of
ordinary self-consciousness in everyday life)
STRUCTURE
 The world of everyday life is structured into:

a) space
b) time: intrinsic property of consciousness.
The world of everyday life is structured in both space and time. The spatial structure is entirely
peripheral to our present considerations. It is enough to point out that it also has a social
dimension by virtue of the fact that my zone of manipulation intersects with that of others.
More important for our present purpose is the temporal structure of everyday life.
SOCIAL INTERACTION IN DAILY LIFE

 The experience of others can be: direct or indirect. I apprehend the other through
typifying schemes.
 The most important experience of others is the "face to face" situation: The
typifying schemes of the situations are reciprocal.
 The social reality of everyday life is apprehended in a continuum of typifications
that become progressively anonymous as they move away from the "here and
now" of the "face to face" situation.
The reality of everyday life is something I share with others. But how do we experience these
others in everyday life? Once again one can distinguish here between various modes of such
experience. The most important experience I have of others occurs in the "face-to-face"
situation, which is the prototype of social interaction and from which all other cases are
derived. In the "face to face" situation the other appears to me in a vivid present that we both
share. I know that in the same vivid present I present myself to him. My "here and now" and
yours continually gravitate towards each other, as long as the "face to face" situation lasts. The
result is a continuous exchange between my expressiveness and his.
LANGUAGE (SIGN)
 Human expressiveness is capable of being objectified, meaning: human production
of signs and serves as an index of subjective meanings.
 Signs are grouped into a number of systems, and signs and systems are
characterized by their separability and can be signified by the degree to which
they can be separated from "face-to-face" situations.
 Language (vocal sign system) is the most important sign system in human society.
 The common objectifications of everyday life are supported primarily by linguistic

meaning.
 Due to its ability to transcend the "here and now", language builds bridges
between different areas within the reality of everyday life and integrates it into a
meaningful whole.
A special case of objectification, but one that is of crucial importance, is signification,

that is, the human production of signs. A sign can be distinguished from other objectifications
by its explicit intention to serve as an indication of subjective meanings. Certainly all
objectifications can be used as signs, even if they were not originally produced with such
intention. For example, a weapon may have been made originally for the purpose of hunting
animals, but later (such as in ritual use) may become a sign of aggression and violence in
general. There are, however, certain objectifications originally and explicitly intended to serve
as signs.
The signs are grouped into a number of systems. Thus, there are systems of gesticulatory
signs, of patterned body movements, of various groups of material artifacts, and so on. Signs
and sign systems are objectifications in the sense that they are objectively accessible beyond
the expression of subjective intentions "here and now." This "separability" of immediate
expressions of subjectivity also occurs in signs that require the presence of the body as a
mediator.
Language originates in everyday life, which it takes as its primary reference; It refers
above all to the reality that I experience in waking consciousness, dominated by the pragmatic
motive (that is, the group of meanings that correspond directly to present or future actions) and
that I share with others in an established way.
Due to its ability to transcend the "here and now", language builds bridges between
different areas within the reality of everyday life and integrates them into a meaningful whole.
Transcendences have spatial, temporal and social dimensions. Through language I can
transcend the space that separates my manipulative zone from that of the other; I can
synchronize my biographical time sequence with his, and dialogue with him about individuals
and communities with whom we are not currently in "face-to-face" interaction. As a result of
these transcendences, language is capable of "making present" a diversity of objects that are
absent - spatially, temporally and socially - from the "here and now." Ipso facto an enormous
accumulation of experiences and meanings can become objectified in the "here and now." More
simply, at any moment an entire world can be updated through language. This transcendent and
integrative power of language is preserved even when, in fact, I am no longer dialoguing with
another. Even "talking to myself" in solitary thought, at any moment an entire world can be
presented to me through linguistic objectification. As far as social relations are concerned,
language "makes me present" not only to the fellow human beings who are physically absent at
that moment, but also those of the remembered or reconstructed past , as well as others
projected into the future as imaginary figures. All of these “presences” can be extremely
significant, of course, in the continuing reality of everyday life.
Language, furthermore, is capable of completely transcending the reality of everyday life.

It can refer to experiences that correspond to limited areas of meaning, and encompass isolated
areas of reality. For example, I can interpret "the meaning" of a dream by linguistically
integrating it into the order of everyday life. This integration transposes the isolated reality that
corresponds to the dream into the reality of everyday life, locking it within the latter. The
dream then takes on meaning in terms of the reality of everyday life rather than its own isolated
reality. The products of these transpositions belong, in a certain sense, to both spheres of
reality: they are "located" in one reality, but "refer" to another.
Any significant theme that thus crosses from one sphere of reality to another can be defined as
a symbol, and the linguistic mode by which this transcendence is achieved can be called
symbolic language. At the level of symbolism, then, linguistic significance reaches its
maximum separation from the "here and now" of everyday life, and language ascends to
regions that are inaccessible to everyday experience not only de facto but also a priori .
Language then builds enormous buildings of symbolic representation that seem to dominate the
reality of everyday life like gigantic presences from another world. Religion, philosophy, art
and science are the most historically important among the symbolic systems of this class. To
name them is to affirm that, although the construction of these systems requires a maximum of
separation from everyday experience, they can be truly very important for the reality of daily
life. Language is capable not only of constructing symbols highly abstracted from everyday
experience, but also of "recovering" these symbols and presenting them as objectively real
elements in everyday life. In this way, symbolism and symbolic language become essential
constituents of the reality of everyday life and of the apprehension that common sense has of
this reality. Live every day in a world of signs and symbols.
SPEECH
The method that we consider most convenient to clarify the foundations of knowledge of
everyday life is that of phenomenological analysis, a purely descriptive method and as such,
“empirical”, but not “scientific” which is how we consider the nature of empirical sciences.
The phenomenological analysis of everyday life, or rather of the subjective experience of
everyday life, is a brake, against all causal or genetic hypotheses, as well as against assertions
about the ontological situation of the analyzed phenomena. It is important to remember this.
Common sense contains innumerable pre-scientific and quasi-scientific interpretations of
everyday reality, which it takes for granted. If we are going to describe the reality of common
sense, we will have to refer to these interpretations, as well as we will have to take into
account their presuppositional nature; but we do it by placing it between phenomenological
parentheses.

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CONCEPT

 It is presented as a reality interpreted by the subjective meaning of a coherent

 originates in the thoughts and actions of ordinary members of a society

 The reality of everyday life is a world that is common to many men.

 The reality of daily life covers two types of sectors:

— some are apprehended by routine.

— others are problematic.

Consciousness is always intentional, always pointing or directed at objects. We can never

 The world of everyday life is structured into:

b) time: intrinsic property of consciousness.

SOCIAL INTERACTION IN DAILY LIFE

 The common objectifications of everyday life are supported primarily by linguistic

A special case of objectification, but one that is of crucial importance, is signification,

Language, furthermore, is capable of completely transcending the reality of everyday life.

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