I was exceptionally fortunate to work with outstanding philosophers throughout these years. I would first like to thank my supervisor Sonia Sedivy. Her open minded and modest approach to philosophy helped me to gain a clearer perspective and to better focus on the problems in question, her encouragement in difficult periods gave me the necessary motivation to continue with my project, and her suggestions and criticisms provided a stimulus without which I never could have written this text. I also want to thank my co-supervisor William Seager, for many and fruitful discussions and comments as well as interesting challenges, and James Morrison for his insightful comments on Husserl. It was a privilege to have Barry Smith as my external reader, his comments and encouragement were an essential help for bringing the manuscript to its present shape.My interest in combining the results ofHusserlian phenomenology and analytic philosophy of mind was first raised by my professors during my pre-PhD studies, by Peter Simons and Johannes Brandl at the University of Salzburg, Eduard Marbach at the University of Berne, and Guido Kung at the University of Fribourg. This book shows how deeply their example has influenced my way of approaching philosophy, for which I sincerely thank them. A special thank goes to my colleagues in Erfurt, especially to Alex Burri and Christian Beyer, for their comments as well as the challenging and enlightening discussions.In this text I try to show that consciousness depends on the social group in which one grows up and lives. I had the great fortune to grow up and live with a very special group of people, whom I owe more than can be expressed here. First, I want to thank my parents for their generous support, moral and otherwise, and my sister Angela, who always set an example. The intellectual exchange with my friend and colleague John Gibson was very helpful not only
Vtt viiiAcknowledgments in the development and formulation of my own position, but also for situating my views in a larger philosophical landscape and gaining interest in new topics. I also want to thank my friends Luca Pocci, Marc-Oliver Schuster, Gardar Amason, Bruno Cooren, Stefano Cracolici, and, most importantly, Karin Buttenhauser, for enriching my life before, during and after my years in Toronto.I dedicate this book to Melania Parisi, for her love, patience, and affection. It is not an exaggeration to say that she added a new dimension to my life.Parts of this work have been presented in publication before. Chapter 2 is a slightly revised version of an article that has appeared in Synthese 137 (2003), pp. 345-68, "Husserl and Haugeland on Constitution"; reprint with the kind permission of Kluwer Academic Publishers. Parts of chapter 5 have been presented at the International Wittgenstein Symposium 2001 and published under the title "The World as We See It: a Late-Wittgensteinian Argument for Direct Realism" in: Rudolf Haller and Klaus Puhl (eds),