Philosophy notes23

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) Husserl’s Phenomenology: Project Husserl offers phenomenology as a response to the crisis in sciences, philosophy and culture. Crisis is derived from the Greek term ‘krisis’ which means separation or pulling apart. Modern science consists in a forgetfulness of what was: subjective origin of science and nature of the human being as an authentic person. “Positive science is science lost in the world. One must first lose the world through epoche so as to regain it in universal self-examination.” (Husserl- Paris Lectures). This crisis can be historically traced back to the Galilean method which separate fact and value and undermined responsibility at the scientific, philosophical and cultural level.

In order to remedy this crisis Husserl assigns the following tasks to phenomenology: 1.Rigorous Science: Rigor cannot be acquired by copying natural sciences.

Phenomenology aims at being a rigorous science and it critiques the following tendencies in: (a)Science- Naturalism.

There is a colonization of the personalistic attitude by the naturalistic attitude. (b)Philosophy- Positivism, Psychologism, Historicism and Weltanschauung. (c)Culture- Aggressiveness.

2.Philosophical Radicalism: The urge to go back to the sources.

3.The Ethos of Radical Autonomy.

4.The Wonder of all Wonders: Subjectivity.

Phenomenology aims at going back to the things themselves: “zu den Sachen” and the work done on them. In this it restores to philosophy its original unifying role of going to the origins of the things themselves. Phenomenology also aims at making philosophy responsible to address the deeper concerns of humanity.

Books: 1.Husserl and the Crisis of Philosophical Responsibility (by Phillip Buckley Jr,Chapter1) 2.The Phenomenological Movement (by Herbert Spiegelberg Chapter on Husserl and the section on ‘Constants in Husserl’s Phenomenology’) 3.Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy (byHusserl, Introduction by Quetin Lauer) 4.Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy (by Husserl for reference)