ABSTRACT
In attempting to identify what is essential or universal in political experience, it is evident that we are not concerned with the “psychic process” involved, which refers to a “worldly” occurrence (that is, one apprehended in the natural attitude). The necessity of a whole order for any given political community can be seen in concretely functioning intersubjectivity itself. For if, indeed, the objectivity of the life-world is intersubjectively constituted by a community, then a certain concrete order of thought must be present, with a content to some degree specific to that community. The essential structure of political intentionality perhaps finds its archetypal expression in the case of a revolution. The structure of political intentionality can be elucidated more precisely through a consideration of the life of honor as particularly pertaining to political life. In seeking honor, one acts primarily for oneself. At the same time, in striving for honor, one identifies with the political order in a profound sense.
