Edmund Husserl

Definition

Edmund Husserl was a German philosopher who is considered the founder of the philosophical movement known as phenomenology. Phenomenology is a study of the structures of consciousness and the phenomena that appear in acts of consciousness.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Husserl's phenomenology aimed to provide a new foundation for all of philosophy by focusing on the structures of consciousness and experience.
2. Husserl believed that philosophy should be a rigorous science, and he developed the method of phenomenological reduction to uncover the essential features of phenomena.
3. The concept of intentionality, the directedness of consciousness towards an object, was central to Husserl's phenomenology.
4. Husserl's notion of the lifeworld, the pre-given world of everyday experience, was a key aspect of his critique of the Enlightenment's emphasis on scientific objectivity.
5. Husserl's concept of epoche, the bracketing or suspension of the natural attitude, was a crucial step in his phenomenological method.

Review Questions

• Explain how Husserl's phenomenology challenged Enlightenment theories of knowledge and objectivity.
  • Husserl's phenomenology challenged the Enlightenment's emphasis on scientific objectivity by arguing that all knowledge is grounded in the structures of consciousness and the lifeworld of everyday experience. He believed that the natural attitude, which takes the existence of the external world for granted, needed to be bracketed or suspended in order to uncover the essential features of phenomena. Husserl's concept of the lifeworld, the pre-given world of lived experience, was a critique of the Enlightenment's focus on abstract, theoretical knowledge, and he sought to provide a new foundation for philosophy based on the structures of consciousness.
• Describe the role of intentionality in Husserl's phenomenology and how it relates to his critique of Enlightenment theories.
  • The concept of intentionality, the directedness of consciousness towards an object, was central to Husserl's phenomenology. Husserl argued that consciousness is always consciousness of something, and that the world is given to us as a correlate of consciousness. This challenged the Enlightenment's assumption of a mind-independent, objective reality. By focusing on the structures of consciousness and the way phenomena appear to us, Husserl sought to move beyond the subject-object dualism that he saw as a limitation of Enlightenment theories. Intentionality was a key aspect of Husserl's attempt to provide a new foundation for philosophy based on the lived experience of the lifeworld.
• Analyze how Husserl's concept of epoche, or the phenomenological reduction, relates to his critique of Enlightenment objectivity and his development of phenomenology.
  • Husserl's concept of epoche, the bracketing or suspension of the natural attitude, was a crucial step in his phenomenological method. By suspending judgment about the existence of the external world, Husserl sought to shift the focus of philosophy away from abstract, theoretical knowledge and towards the structures of consciousness and the lived experience of the lifeworld. This was a direct challenge to the Enlightenment's emphasis on scientific objectivity, which Husserl saw as limited by its reliance on the natural attitude. The epoche allowed Husserl to uncover the essential features of phenomena and provide a new foundation for philosophy based on the study of consciousness and experience. Ultimately, Husserl's development of phenomenology was a response to the perceived shortcomings of Enlightenment theories and a attempt to establish a more rigorous, systematic approach to philosophical inquiry.

Related terms

Intentionality:

The directedness of consciousness towards an object, the idea that consciousness is always consciousness of something.

Lifeworld:

The pre-given world of everyday experience that is the foundation for all scientific and philosophical investigation.

Epoche: The phenomenological reduction or bracketing of the natural attitude, where one suspends judgment about the existence of the external world to focus on the structures of consciousness.