A Martian Among the Spectra: Autism, Subjectivity and Philosophy

Abstract

This text departs from the psychoanalytic framework traditionally applied to the autistic spectrum (ASD)—a framework that too often focuses on the genesis of autism without examining its structure—to address the question of what autism essentially is. Specifically, the author investigates what distinguishes an autistic subject from one who is not, or is autistic to a lesser degree, temporarily setting aside etiological concerns. Engaging with ongoing debates within cognitive science—from theories that interpret autism as a deficit in Theory of Mind (ToM), to neuroscientific approaches emphasizing mirror neurons and empathy (Vittorio Gallese)—the author advances an original perspective that partially reclaims the challenge posed by philosophical phenomenology to positivist methodologies. He proposes to conceive autism as an agnosia of subjectivity, vaery different from ToM, affecting both one’s own subjectivity and that of others. Autistic individuals, in this view, are compelled to construct a Theory of Mind in order to interact effectively with other human beings. This thesis provides an overarching interpretive framework capable of integrating the otherwise fragmented symptomatology of ASD and elucidating its internal coherence. It also accounts for the paradox whereby autistic individuals often display high performance in logical–formal tasks while exhibiting significant difficulty in intersubjective contexts—contexts that hinge on a dimension that resists formalization: that of subjectivity itself. The author draws particularly on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s approach to subjectivity, incorporating insights from Ian Hacking, and engages with a range of autobiographical writings by autistic authors, including Temple Grandin, Donna Williams, Tito Mukhopadhyay, Susanna Tamaro, and Daniel Tammet.

Keywords:

• autism Keyword: autism
• subjectivity Keyword: subjectivity
• Lacan Keyword: Lacan
• Philosophy Keyword: Philosophy
• language Keyword: language

How to Cite:

Rights: In Copyright