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Transcendental Idealism: the guardian of natural realism
In a previous post, I argued that Edmund Husserl does not hold to any form of traditional idealism. On the contrary, I suggested that Husserl’s position is in some ways closer to epistemological realism. So, this naturally raises the question: If Husserl subscribes to some kind of realism, why then does he explicitly and persistently…
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Book Review: Introduction to Phenomenology
Robert Sokolowski’s Introduction to Phenomenology was one of the first books on Husserlian Phenomenology that I read, after I was introduced to Husserl several years ago. At the time, although I had been studying philosophy for quite a while, I was unfamiliar with Husserl’s terminology and principles. After all, as anyone who has read his…
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Is Husserl a Traditional Idealist?
In my last post, I gave a brief introduction the realism vs. idealism debate. In this post, I wish to give a preliminary answer to the question: is Husserl a realist or an idealist? As I mentioned previously, some of Husserl’s students and contemporaries took him to be an “idealist” in the traditional sense of…
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Realism vs. Idealism: an introduction to the debate
Nearly all of us have encountered the terms “realism” and “idealism.” In common parlance, being a “realist” is generally associated with knowing how the world works and accepting it, even if this knowledge is not always pleasant or comforting. Conversely, if someone is termed an “idealist,” it usually means that he is either a visionary…
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Immanence and Transcendence: consciousness and world
In my last post, I examined Husserl’s understanding of the phenomenological reduction. I ended by stating that for Husserl, the reduction is the “bracketing” or “disconnecting” of all transcendent objectivities. In this post, then, I will discuss what transcendence and immanence mean in Husserlian phenomenology. For Husserl, “immanence” refers to that which is really contained…
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The Phenomenological Reduction: rising above the world
Over my last few posts, I have outlined various aspects of Husserlian phenomenology, including the descriptive method, the meaning of essences, and the natural attitude. In this post, I will describe Husserl’s conception of the phenomenological reduction. As I have explained previously, Husserl argues that we cannot philosophize within the natural attitude without serious problems,…
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What is the Natural Attitude?
It is impossible to understand Husserlian phenomenology without understanding Husserl’s conception of the natural attitude. In this post, then, I will describe what Husserl means by the “natural attitude” and also outline the consequences of attempting to do philosophy from the natural standpoint. Stated briefly, the natural attitude is, for Husserl, simply the general positing…
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Can we see essences? Immanuel Kant and Edmund Husserl
My last post discussed Husserl’s understanding of essences and eidetic intuition. In this post, I am going to examine an important consequence of this. Specifically, Husserl’s view of eidetic intuition reveals a fundamental difference between Husserl and Immanuel Kant. Kant maintains that intuition is only and always either of sensible individuals or of the forms…
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Essences and Imaginative Free Variation
In my last post, I outlined the meaning of phenomenology for Husserl. Specifically, I focused on the nature of phenomenology as a descriptive science of consciousness. Husserl argues that phenomenological description is possible as a foundational philosophical method primarily because of the capacity to have direct insights into essences. What are essences? Husserl maintains that…
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Phenomenology: “Back to the things themselves!”
Almost everyone who has studied philosophy, even briefly, has encountered the term “phenomenology.” But what exactly does phenomenology mean for Husserl? The motto of Husserlian phenomenology, taken from his Logical Investigations, is “back to the things themselves.”1 This is a powerful statement, but it requires elucidation. Husserl maintains that phenomenology has two meanings which are…