Edmund Husserl: biography of this philosopher of phenomenology

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) is one of the most influential and prominent figures in 20th century philosophy. His ideas still endure in the 21st century, and are still being studied in universities.

This author was a German philosopher and logician, founder of transcendental phenomenology. In this article we will see a short biography of Edmund Husserl, with the most important events of his life, and we will mention some of his works and contributions to philosophy.

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Edmund Husserl: biography

Husserl's full name is: Edmund Gustav Albercht Husserl (we are going to refer to him, as Edmund Husserl). Husserl was a German philosopher and logician. He was born in Prossnitz (today Prostejov, now the Czech Republic), in 1859, and died in Freiburg, Germany, in 1938.

As we will see, Husserl was a disciple of Franz Brentano and Carl Stumpf. Edmund Husserl is considered the founder of transcendental phenomenology. He also created, through this phenomenology, the phenomenological movement. This movement consists of a philosophical movement that is one of the most influential of the 20th century.

Husserl worked as a teacher. In 1887 he was in Halle, and later in Göttingen (since 1906). Ten years later, in 1916, he became a full professor at the University of Freiburg. He worked there until he retired (rather, he was removed from teaching by Nazism), in 1928.

Origin: beginnings

Edmund Husserl was born into a wealthy Jewish family on April 8, 1859 in the town of Prostějov, located in the Moravian region. At that time this region was part of the Austrian Empire; currently, however, it belongs to the Czech Republic.

Edmund Husserl first studied mathematics, mainly in the universities of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878), with the then famous professors Karl Weierstraß and Leopold Kronecker. In 1881 he went to Vienna to study under the supervision of Leo Königsberger (a former Weierstrass student) and obtained his doctorate in 1883 with the work Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the calculation of variations).

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Trajectory

Husserl he studied mathematics, astronomy, physics and philosophy at different universities: Vienna, Berlin and Leipzig. Specifically, he began studying mathematics at the University of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878).

A little later, in 1881, Husserl went to Vienna for work. There he worked under the supervision of Leo Leo Königsberger, a German mathematician. It was in Vienna where he obtained his doctorate, in 1883, with his work that had as its original title Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the calculation of variations).

It is a year later, in 1884, when Edmund Husserl he receives classes from the sociologist Franz Brentano, in some courses on psychology and philosophy that were held in Vienna. Brentano greatly influenced Husserl's philosophical training, and his decision to bet on philosophy. Edmund Husserl was studying with Brentano for a short time; he subsequently he went to the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.

There he was with Carl Stumpf (Brentano's former disciple). It was then that Husserl wrote his work Über den Begriff der Zahl (On the Concept of Number), in the year 1887. This work served as the basis for another, much more important (in fact, his first important work): "Philosophie der Arithmetik (Philosophy of Arithmetic"), 1891.

After several years dedicated to teaching, as we already anticipated, Edmund Husserl was removed from teaching due to the arrival of Nazism.

Contributions

The first texts by Edmund Husserl are dated 1891; we found a work from that year titled Philosophy of arithmetic, where discusses the origin and use of number symbols. That is, it relates mathematics to philosophy.

Soon Edmund Husserl begins to write about philosophy (philosophical texts). The years 1900 and 1901 began with them, with "Logical Investigations". With this text Husserl intended to determine an epistemological basis for philosophy; namely, he wanted philosophy to be considered a science. To defend this idea, Husserl relied on a method that he himself called "phenomenological."

Construction site

Edmund Husserl's work is extensive. The complete works of him are in original manuscripts, consisting of more than 45,000 pages. They can be seen in the Institute of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Louvain, under the name "Husserl Archives".

To see them, scholars from all over the world come. They are above all people who study (or are interested in) phenomenology. In addition, many of his works continue to be published and republished. On the other hand, they have been translated into many languages.

Titles of his works

Some of Husserl's most outstanding works are (in chronological order): "Philosophy of Arithmetic" (1891); "Logical Investigations" (1900); "Ideas Relative to a Pure Phenomenology and a Phenomenological Philosophy" (1913); "Cartesian Meditations" (1931); "The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy" (1936) and "Experience and Judgment" (1939).

Transcendental phenomenology

Edmund Husserl is considered the founder of transcendental phenomenology. Transcendental phenomenology seeks to "renew" philosophy, looking for its connection with science (or its possibility of becoming one of them).

It is a way of understanding philosophy, of describing the meaning of the world. It is based on a specific method, the phenomenological method, which describes the phenomena as they appear in consciousness; then it enters the field of consciousness and subjects it to an intentional analysis.

Husserl's transcendental phenomenology is a philosophical current that has influenced other authors and other leading figures in the intellectual field; it is about personalities like Ortega y Gasset, Heidegger or Scheler.

Death and legacy

Edmund husserl died on April 27, 1938, in Freiburg, Germany. He was 79 years old. Previously, he had suffered from pleurisy, a disease that consists of inflammation of the pleura, usually caused by pneumonia.

Husserl spent the last months of his life reviewing and analyzing his texts. In addition, he continued to give lectures (in Prague and Vienna).

Husserl's legacy lives on in the field of psychology and philosophy. His contributions to the field of phenomenology continue to be of notable academic interest. In addition, his work was transferred to Leuven (Belgium), as we have seen, where it can be consulted. Fortunately, the Nazis were unable to destroy it.

Bibliographic references:

• Gadamer, Hans-Georg. (2016). The phenomenological movement. Editorial Synthesis: Madrid.
• García-Baró, M. (1997). Husserl (1859-1938). Madrid, Ediciones del Orto.
• Herrera, D. (2010). Husserl and the world of life. Franciscanum, 52 (153): 247-274.
• Husserl, E. (1997). Ideas related to a pure phenomenology and a phenomenological philosophy. First book (translation by José Gaos), FCE, Mexico.
• Mohanty, J.N. (1964). Edmund Husserl's Theory of Meaning, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague.