Invisibilization of Suffering by Benno Herzog

Author:Benno Herzog
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030284480
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

2.2.4 The Third: Person or Object?

The Third seems to add something substantial to the drama of the social that does not exist in the dyadic relation. For our topic, we can say that the Third influences the visibility of that relation and of the suffering of the social actors involved. The Third can shape, distort or divert the relation. The Third can contribute to the visibilization as well as the invisibilization of both the relation and the potential suffering of the social actors. However, thus far, I have insisted upon the personal character of the Third. I have claimed that the Third is a social actor, ranging from persons to groups or institutions. Nonetheless, we could ask whether what was said of the personal Third is also true of the Third as an inanimate object. The social interactions of two social actors are shaped not only by the theoretical or practical presence of the Third, but also by the material context. The existence of material objects also shapes the relation between recognition and misrecognition. Objects or, more generally, material orders, contribute to visibilization, invisibilization and suffering.

One might argue that we could even say that objects, similar to human beings, have normative relations to people. However, I think that in this case, we would fall into a categorical mistake. The loaf of bread does not recognize my need for food, nor does the bed recognize my need for rest. It might seem that wheelchair-friendly buildings recognize the diversity and equal dignity of people. Nonetheless, attributing normative positions to objects would be to attribute human characteristics to objects, which is a clear case of anthropomorphism. Objects can be objectivizations of human needs and human relations. A loaf of bread is the objectivization of human’s need to eat. When I give a loaf of bread to someone, I might recognize some basic needs in the other person. However, it is still me as a personal actor and not the bread who performs this act of recognition. Moreover, in our capitalistic society, not even hunger is a sufficient reason to produce food or to distribute the existing food. Producers of food would not relate to people who are not identified as potential buyers of the food. Therefore, in this case, we can see clearly that it is not the food that recognizes or disrespects the hungry person, but rather the producers or holders of food who want to relate only to those able to pay for their products. We could even go so far as to speak of the alienation of the objects. The objects are seen as detached from the producer and the social relations in which they are produced and are now perceived as if they were social actors that relate of their own volition to other social actors.

Nevertheless, even if we accept that objects cannot act on their own, at least they can shape normative relations in a way similar to that of the Third. One of the most obvious examples is surveillance cameras.

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