phenomenology

logic

ology (the study of)

philosophy

light bulb joke

thing

thingification

Edmund Husserl

is 'the study of essences', all problems amount to finding definitions of essences, the essence of perception, the essence of consciousness.

What is phenomenology' It may seem strange that this question has still to be asked half a century after the first works of Husserl. The fact remains that it has by no means been answered. Phenomenology is the study of essences... and according to it, all problems amount to finding definitions of essences: the essence of perception, or the essence of consciousness, for example. ('Merleau-Ponty 'what is phenomenology' 55)

is, (as a science of things) intrinsically different from all the other sciences who designate their objects of study according to their subject-matter.

This means that phenomenology (as a science of things) is intrinsically different from the all the other sciences who designate their objects of study according to their subject-matter. (munday)

is a 'method,' but it is the method of the most radicalized self-meditation, of the self-assertion and self-realization of the spirit in the opening-up of the depths of its own transcendental life.

A mere deportment of careful description and of intuition which establishes laws of essences, which is applicable to any and every entity, is no philosophy. Of course phenomenology is a 'method,' but it is the method of the most radicalized self-meditation, of the self-assertion and self-realization of the spirit in the opening-up of the depths of its own transcendental life (fink 'what does the phenomenology' 23) .

is a dangerous method in that it allows us entirely to dispense with learning history. Simply piling up examples will yield no 'essence' . To produce a general phe nomenological theory of, say, the novel, it is enough to have read one novel, to build a universal theory of religion we do not need to know more than one religion.

An additional danger of Husserl's method con sist in that it allows us entirely to dispense with learning history. No 'essence' will spring from piling up examples. To produce a general phe nomenological theory of the novel it is enough to have read one novel, to build a universal theory of religion we do not need to know more than one religion. This is perhaps one of the reasons why phenomenology does not seem to have contributed to making inquiries in human sciences 'more rigorous'... instead, it made free speculation easier. (kolakowski 'husserl' 56)

is a descriptive science concerned with a kind of logic and sense, whereas psychology is an explanatory science concerned with material / causal explanation.

is a field of inquiry grounded in the insight that what we first hear is never noises or complexes of sounds, but rather the creaking wagon, the storm whistling in the chimney. Contrary to expectations, to suggest that we hear a pure noise, requires a very artificial and complicated frame of mind. Thus to be in the world is not to have primary sensations but to always already dwell amidst what is available within the world.

What we 'first' hear is never noises or complexes of sounds, but the creaking wagon, the motorcycle. . . . It requires a very artificial and complicated frame of mind to 'hear' a 'pure noise.' The fact that motorcycles and wagons are what we proximally hear is the phenomenal evidence that in every case Dasein, as being-in-the-world,already dwells amidst what is available within-the-world...it certainly does not dwell primarily amidst 'sensations.'(207)[164] (heidegger in 'dreyfus 'being in the world' 218) . . . . We never . . . originally and really perceive a throng of sensations, e.g., tones and noises, in the appearance of things . . . ... rather, we hear the storm whistling in the chimney, we hear the three-engine aeroplane, we hear the Mercedes in immediate distinction from the Volkswagen. Much closer to us than any sensations are the things themselves. We hear the door slam in the house, and never hear acoustic sensations or mere sounds. (Heidegger 1977, 364 [156], translation modified) (in Husserl 'routledge' :84)

is a field of study which attempts to show each type of phenomenon in a way that brings forth the best evidence for it. It is a kind of 'concrete demonstration'.

. Phenomenology is 'concrete demonstration' (359) [ 3 l l ] in that it attempts to show each type of phenomenon in a way that brings forth the best

is a field of study which concerns not the being of things but rather the manner in which they can be shown.

However, this order or generalized form of comparison can be established only according to its position in the body of our acquired knowledge... the absolute character we recognize in what is simple concerns not the being of things but rather the manner in which they can be known. (Foucault 'order' 54)

phenomenology, n.Definitions

phenomenology