“THE GAZE" OF THE OTHER AND XENOPHOBIA: PHENOMENOLOGICAL SEARCHES FOR THE ESSENCE OF THE EVIL EYE

Abstract

The phenomenon of "evil spirits", widespread in many cultures and social groups, has already been studied from various angles, but the philosophical meaning of this phenomenon remains insufficiently studied. The purpose of the current study was to identify sources in the human psyche and social structures that make belief in the evil eye possible and, even more, universal across cultures. The study was based on a phenomenological approach, using elements of structuralist and hermeneutic approaches. In the course of the research, it was determined that humanity has always associated the evil eye with the "evil eye of the Other", and the "look of the Other" is already well-studied in the phenomenological discourse. It is considered concepts of E. Husserl, M. Merleau-Ponty, J. P. Sartre, M.  Buber. The phenomenological concept of "The Look" was expanded by structuralists, first of all, M. Foucault. It was he who introduced the concept of "The Gaze" into the philosophical discourse and analyzed its social models ("panopticon") and its consequences for man (dialectic of subjectivation and objectification). The concepts of psychoanalysts of the Kleinian orientation, which are related to the paranoid-schizoid position, and therefore to the "escape-struggle" with the evil Other, were also considered. It was determined that the fear of the evil eye is a universal feature of the human psyche, which is connected with the processes of containerization of one's own mental elements in a conditional Other. Five hypothetical sources influencing the emergence of belief in evil spirits and xenophobic ideologues have been identified. Four of them are identified as key. The study brings to social philosophy and philosophical anthropology a new understanding of the phenomenon of evil spirits and can be used for further research in the field of philosophy, the history of emotions, etc.