Abstract

In challenging the media‐pessimistic phenomenological analyses provided by Hubert Dreyfus and Tanja Staehler, I argue that such analyses have misinterpreted phenomenological theory and have resulted in fallacious arguments. I show that phenomenological theory, as it relates to what constitutes our social experiences, indicates that the core of encountering others is the same in both physical presence and through the media. It is the other’s expressions and not the presence of their physical bodies that is central. Based on the phenomenological analyses of Husserl and Stein, I conclude that there is no reason why even advanced learning should not be possible via media‐based public discussion.