Love and intersubjectivity: An inquiry into the personalism of Max Scheler

The purpose of this study is to investigate intersubjectivity in the work of Scheler, focusing primarily on writings of his middle or "Catholic" period. To do so, I consider the nature of the person as both the autonomous center of spiritual acts and as a vital ego immersed in a universal life stream with others. I then address the issue of intersubjectivity as it has been commonly formulated in phenomenology and demonstrate that for Scheler, true intersubjectivity is situated in love between persons and that it demands both a proximity and a distance that are positioned outside the bounds of theoretical formulations and cognitive knowledge. Following an exhibition of the role and forms of love in Scheler's philosophy, I address issues related to love and the order of material values as they pertain to the autonomy and uniqueness of the person, with reference to themes of "the same" and "the other" found in the work of Levinas. Ultimately we see that Scheler posits the person in such a way that it is the seat of absolute value, that the person cannot be limited by theoretical structures or language, and that for Scheler, the person as person is a phenomenon that lies outside the scope of philosophy.