Ontological pluralism and phenomenological realism in trans-inclusive worlds of sense: Responding with care to lifeworlds in crisis

Description

A 20-minute research paper delivered at the British Society for Phenomenology's annual conference in Dublin. The conference was coorganised by University College Dublin’s School of Philosophy, Centre for Ethics in Public Life, School of Law, and the ERC Coercive In/Justice (GENCOERCTRL) project.

Abstract:

This talk will: (1) Build on Mariana Ortega’s argument that phenomenology historically failed to account for lives on the “borders” of (life)worlds; (2) Argue that a modified, Heideggerian-hermeneutic phenomenology can support the pluralism and realism found in “multiple world” accounts of truth and language, including in Talia Mae Bettcher’s trans philosophy, and Ortega and María Lugones’ Latina feminist phenomenologies.

I will expand Ortega’s modification of Heidegger’s existential analytic, agreeing that Dasein must be multiplicitous to account for lives lived across dominant and resistant worlds. I will connect Ortega’s account to Bettcher’s “multiple meaning realism”, which also builds on Lugones description of multiplicitous worldhood, theorising how trans worlds have trans-inclusive “rules” and “meanings”, while being intertwined with dominant worlds that do not. I will argue that the hermeneutic looping of truth, language and world in Heidegger’s account of understanding helps theorise multiplicitous world-building, exploring Ortega’s and Ephraim Das Janssen’s accounts of how das Man strengthens gender norms, and challenging Heidegger’s idea that dominant worlds are “tranquilising” until broken.

I will next argue that Heidegger’s post-Kehre account of truth and language can strengthen the realism and pluralism in Bettcher’s account, moving from “multiple meaning” to “multiple world” realism. This maintains that trans women are women, because language and truths in trans-inclusive worlds build on the unconcealment of their Being as women. “Truths” built on trans-exclusionary unconcealments, by contrast, narrow the truths that Dasein can uncover about themselves and others. Avoiding this “supreme danger” (Heidegger, QCT) challenges trans exclusion, while avoiding pluralism’s risk of relativism.

Heideggerian, ontological pluralism helps theorise the formation of multiple worlds and truths, but often leads to fatalism. Building from resistant worlds, Lugones offers coalitional tools for seeing the contingency of worlds and “truths”. These reflect Dasein’s Mitsein and multiplicity, while helping to realise a Left Heideggerian, post-foundationalist pluralism.

Period	27 Aug 2025 → 29 Aug 2025
Degree of Recognition	International