Edmund Husserl and phenomenology

The Husserl's transcendental phenomenology It is considered a philosophical method that seeks to describe the structures of subjective experience and consciousness, focusing on the phenomena themselves rather than on any external reality or objective. At unPROFESOR.com we delve deeper into the figure of Edmund Husserl, the founder of transcendental phenomenology.

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) was a Moravian philosopher, mathematician and physicist who founded the philosophical movement of phenomenology. His work focused on making phenomenology a rigorous science, developing the concept of “transcendental subjectivity”. A concept that describes the way in which the subject constitutes the world of experience. In this lesson from a TEACHER we tell you who was edmund husserl and what transcendental phenomenology consists of.

Index

1. Who was Edmund Husserl?
2. What is transcendental phenomenology?
3. What did Husserl's transcendental phenomenology contribute to contemporary philosophy?
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4. What are the most common criticisms of Husserl's transcendental phenomenology?

Edmund Husserl was born in Prossnitz, Moravia, in 1859. He was from a traditional Jewish family and followed a classical German education at the Realgymnasium in Vienna, moving to Olmutz to do his secondary school studies. At the universities of Leipzig, Berlin and Vienna he carried out studies of physics, mathematics, astronomy and philosophy.

In 1882 He earned a doctorate in Philosophy in Vienna with a thesis titled “Contributions to the theory of the calculus of variations.” He was a professor in Berlin, but moved back to Vienna in 1884 to be close to the teachings of Franz Brentano. In 1886 he moved back to Halle to continue training in disciplines such as Psychology. In 1916 he was appointed professor at the University of Freiburg. Husserl died in Freiburg in 1938.

The Husserl's transcendental phenomenology aims to methodically explore the phenomenon and how it is experienced in consciousness of the person who perceives it, without it being important whether what is experienced really exists or its external appearance.

For Husserl, the perceiving subject is necessary for knowledge to occur, but transcendental phenomenology goes beyond subjective experience, also worrying about reality or “the world of life”, in Husserl's words, and how the individual lives it.

The human being manages to understand the essence of things through phenomenological reduction, that is, the suspension of our preconceived ideas about reality, this being the way of being able to access the experience as the subject experiences it.

Husserl called strict science a science that focuses on the description of structures of subjective experience and consciousness, rather than focusing on any external reality or objective.

Transcendental phenomenology is part of the tradition of transcendental philosophy that has its roots in the philosopher Descartes, but more in Immanuel Kant and German idealism. Husserl published several works in which he expounded his concept of phenomenology: in “Logical investigations” (1900-1901), this philosopher focused on phenomenology and the theory of knowledge, while in “Ideas”(1913) established phenomenology as a fundamental science.

Here you can read about the Principles of Descartes' philosophy and the The philosophy of Immanuel Kant.

Transcendental phenomenology has made important contributions to contemporary philosophy, one of the main contributions being renewal of philosophy as a strict science, focusing on the description of the structures of subjective experience and consciousness. Furthermore, transcendental phenomenology was basic to understand the development of philosophy and science of the 20th century.

On the other hand, phenomenology also contributed the notion of “phenomenological reduction”, a concept that consists of suspending judgment about the existence of the external world and focusing on subjective experience. A notion that is basic to understanding consciousness and subjectivity in contemporary philosophy.

Husserl's transcendental phenomenology has received numerous criticisms, the most common being:

• The phenomenology does not take into account the social and historical dimension, focusing too much on the individual subjective experience without paying attention to the historical and social dimension that influences the formation of consciousness.
• Other critics point out how transcendental phenomenology It is a transcendental idealism that cannot account for the objective reality of the world.
• The problem generated by phenomenological reduction: phenomenology is problematic since it cannot be applied effectively.
• The phenomenology lacks clarity. As some critics point out, Husserl's transcendental phenomenology did not have a clear and systematic methodology, making its application in scientific research difficult.

Now that you have learned more about Edmund Husserl, we invite you to read this other lesson on the Main currents of contemporary philosophy.

If you want to read more articles similar to Edmund Husserl and phenomenology, we recommend that you enter our category of Philosophy.

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