Philosopher-psychoanalyst Luce Irigaray claims that
all inter-subjective relations are subtended by
sexual difference and that forgetting this is
ignoring a foundational aspect of human relations.
For her, sexual difference is the particular
relation to the body and to language that structures
inter-subjectivity. Ernesto Spinelli, a contemporary
scholar-practitioner of existential phenomenological
psychology is particularly attuned to the
constitution of inter-subjectivity in therapeutic
praxis. An analysis of his own therapeutic praxis
reveals a blind spot in his work. This blind spot
prevents him from realizing certain inter-subjective
possibilities in his work with clients; namely, the
possibilities afforded by articulating a
specifically other. Using Irigaray, Aloysius Joseph
makes the case that Spinelli's therapeutic praxis
can benefit from paying attention to a perceptual
and a sensory economy that is rooted in the client's
sexuate body and history. He suggests that this will
not only revitalize Spinelli's version of
existential phenomenology but also continue to
adhere to its objective of challenging the cultural
assumptions of our time.