Husserl & the Adventure of Phenomenology - In 12 Minutes

Summary

This script explores the philosophy of phenomenology, pioneered by Edmund Husserl, focusing on the subjective experience of reality. It distinguishes between pure phenomenology, with its static and genetic forms, and existential phenomenology, associated with thinkers like Heidegger and Sartre. The script delves into Husserl's methods, such as the phenomenological reduction and eidetic reduction, aiming to uncover the essence of experiences like dreaming. It also touches on phenomenology's influence on psychology and its potential to address the crisis in modern philosophy and culture by fostering a deeper understanding of consciousness and the life world.

Takeaways

• 📚 Phenomenology is a philosophical approach that seeks to understand how things appear to our consciousness and the world as we experience it subjectively.
• 🎓 The modern philosophical concept of phenomenology originated with Edmund Husserl, a Czech-German philosopher who lived from 1859 to 1938.
• 🔍 There are two main variants of phenomenology: pure (or transcendental) phenomenology and existential phenomenology, associated with later thinkers like Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre.
• 🧠 Pure phenomenology is further divided by Husserl into static and genetic forms, focusing on the essential structures of consciousness and their development over time.
• 🌐 Existential phenomenology emphasizes the individual's experience of reality, including the intersubjective and social aspects of the 'life-world'.
• 🤔 The phenomenological attitude involves suspending or bracketing our natural beliefs about reality to focus on the structures of consciousness that constitute our experience.
• 🕊️ The 'epoché' is a method of phenomenology that allows us to bracket our assumptions and beliefs about the world to examine our experiences more closely.
• 🔬 Husserl's 'eidetic reduction' and 'imaginary variation' are techniques used to explore the essential features of experiences, like what makes a dream a dream.
• 🧘‍♂️ Intentionality, a key concept in phenomenology, describes consciousness as both active (action-oriented) and referential (always referring to something).
• 🌟 Phenomenology has influenced psychology, leading to the development of phenomenological psychology, which focuses on the subjective experience of psychological phenomena.
• 🌱 Husserl's later work emphasized the 'life-world' and the need to understand the experiential basis of our existence to address the crises in philosophy, culture, and the modern world.

Q & A

What is phenomenology and why is it significant in modern philosophy?

Phenomenology is a philosophical approach that seeks to provide an account of how things appear to our awareness and how the world appears to us in terms of our subjective experience. It is significant because it reflects on everyday experience to understand its underlying order, structure, and coherence, offering insights into the fundamental nature of reality and consciousness.

Who is Edmund Husserl and what role did he play in the development of phenomenology?

Edmund Husserl was a Czech-German philosopher who lived from 1859 to 1938. He is considered the founder of modern philosophical phenomenology, which he developed as a method to understand the structures of consciousness and the world as it appears to us.

What is the difference between pure phenomenology and existential phenomenology?

Pure phenomenology, also known as transcendental phenomenology, focuses on the structures of consciousness and the essence of experiences. Existential phenomenology, associated with thinkers like Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre, emphasizes the individual's subjective experience and existence in the world.

What is the 'natural attitude' in Husserl's framework?

The 'natural attitude' refers to the common belief that the reality we inhabit is fundamentally separable from our subjective experience of it. It is the everyday way we see reality, assuming the world is 'out there' relative to our experience.

Can you explain the phenomenological attitude and its significance?

The phenomenological attitude involves suspending or bracketing our belief in the natural attitude to focus on the ongoing activity of consciousness that constitutes our experience of reality. This shift in perspective can lead to insights into the fundamental nature of things and is significant for understanding the experiential basis of our lives.

What is the 'epoché' or 'bracketing' in phenomenology?

The 'epoché' is an act of bracketing or suspending judgment about the natural world to focus on the experiential terrain. It allows us to turn our attention to how our consciousness constitutes our experience of reality, which is a key part of the phenomenological reduction.

How does the concept of 'intentionality' in phenomenology differ from its everyday use?

In phenomenology, 'intentionality' is a technical term indicating that consciousness is both active and referential. It means that consciousness is always about something, involving an active process and a reference to an object or state of affairs.

What is the 'eidetic reduction' and how is it used in phenomenology?

The 'eidetic reduction' is a method used in phenomenology to explore the essential features of an experience by employing 'imaginary variation'. It helps to bring about an intuition into the essential nature of an experience by varying all possible attributes to determine what is truly necessary for it to be what it is.

What is Husserl's concept of the 'life world' and its importance?

The 'life world' is Husserl's term for the total assemblage of the entire world as we know it, including the intersubjective and social spheres. It represents a shift in emphasis towards understanding the world from an experiential perspective and is important for grounding philosophy, science, and our technological world in a thoughtful understanding of our experience.

How has phenomenology influenced the field of psychology?

Phenomenology has inspired phenomenological psychology, a school of thought that explores people's experiences of psychological phenomena. It uses qualitative research methods to analyze personal descriptions of experiences to reveal their underlying psychological meaning, shifting psychology towards a more subjective understanding of experiences.

What crisis does Husserl identify in relation to the natural attitude in Western philosophy and science?

Husserl identifies a crisis in Western philosophy and science due to their reliance on the natural attitude without exploring the experiential basis that underlies it. This has led to a crisis in European humanity and the total meaningfulness of its cultural life, contributing to chaos and devastation in the modern world.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Introduction to Phenomenology

This paragraph introduces the concept of phenomenology, distinguishing it from its Enlightenment origins to its modern philosophical form initiated by Edmund Husserl. It explains phenomenology as a method to understand the appearance of things to our consciousness and the world from a subjective experience. Husserl's phenomenology is divided into pure (transcendental) and its static and genetic forms, and existential phenomenology, associated with thinkers like Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre. The natural attitude, where we assume the world is separate from our experience, is contrasted with the phenomenological attitude, which involves bracketing our assumptions to focus on the constitution of reality through consciousness. Husserl's concept of phenomenological reduction is introduced as a shift in perspective to gain insights into the nature of reality and consciousness.

05:01

🌌 Exploring Consciousness and the Life World

This paragraph delves into Husserl's techniques for exploring consciousness, such as the search for essences or eide through phenomenological and eidetic reductions. It describes the method of imaginary variation to understand the essential nature of experiences like dreaming. The intentionality of consciousness is highlighted, emphasizing its active and referential nature. Husserl's later work shifts focus to the 'life world,' encompassing the entire world as we know it, including social and intersubjective dimensions. This shift leads to existential phenomenology, which influences phenomenological psychology, focusing on personal experiences of psychological phenomena and their underlying meanings.

10:02

🌟 The Significance of Phenomenology in Philosophy and Culture

The final paragraph discusses the importance of phenomenology in addressing the crisis in Western philosophy and culture by grounding our understanding of the world in our experiential basis. Husserl's view is presented that the lack of exploration into the experiential foundation has led to chaos and devastation in the modern world. Phenomenology is posited as a means to provide a thoughtful and methodical understanding of our consciousness and existence, thereby offering a potential remedy to the crisis by reorienting philosophy, science, and technology towards a deeper comprehension of our life world.

Keywords

💡Phenomenology

Phenomenology is a philosophical approach that seeks to understand the structures of consciousness and experience from a first-person perspective. In the context of the video, it is about reflecting on our everyday experiences to uncover the underlying order and structure. The script mentions that phenomenology began with Edmund Husserl and has continued through various thinkers, emphasizing the importance of examining how things appear to our awareness.

💡Edmund Husserl

Edmund Husserl is the founder of modern phenomenology, a philosopher who lived from 1859 to 1938. His work laid the foundation for the exploration of consciousness and intentionality. The video script discusses Husserl's method of phenomenological reduction and his quest to return to 'the things themselves,' highlighting his significant influence on the field.

💡Natural Attitude

The natural attitude refers to the common-sense belief that the reality we experience is independent of our subjective experience of it. The video script explains that phenomenology encourages us to move beyond this natural attitude by bracketing our assumptions about the world, allowing for a deeper exploration of our experience.

💡Phenomenological Attitude

Contrasting the natural attitude, the phenomenological attitude involves suspending our usual beliefs about the world to focus on the experience itself. The script describes this as an adventurous activity that can lead to insights into the fundamental nature of things, such as the subjective experience of time.

💡Eidetic Reduction

Eidetic reduction is a method in phenomenology that involves exploring the essential features of an experience that make it what it is. The video script uses the example of a dream, asking what makes a dream a dream, and how one might explore the necessary attributes of such an experience through imaginary variation.

💡Imaginary Variation

Imaginary variation is a technique used in phenomenology to identify the essential characteristics of an experience by varying its possible attributes. The script illustrates this by questioning what would still make an experience a dream if certain elements were changed, aiming to uncover the invariant features of the experience.

💡Intentionality

Intentionality, in phenomenology, refers to the directedness of consciousness towards objects in the world. The video script explains that consciousness is not a passive container but an active, referential process, always about something, which is a key realization in pure phenomenology.

💡Life World

The life world, as described in the script, is the totality of the world as we know it, including the intersubjective and social dimensions. Husserl's later work emphasized exploring the life world, which also influenced the development of existential phenomenology.

💡Existential Phenomenology

Existential phenomenology is a branch of phenomenology that focuses on the individual's experience of existence. The video script mentions thinkers like Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Sartre as key figures in this movement, which emerged from Husserl's later emphasis on the life world.

💡Phenomenological Psychology

Phenomenological psychology is a school of thought that applies phenomenological methods to the study of psychological phenomena. The script explains that this approach involves asking individuals to describe their experiences and then analyzing these descriptions to reveal their underlying psychological meanings.

💡Crisis of Philosophy

The crisis of philosophy, as discussed in the script, refers to a perceived crisis in Western philosophy and science due to a lack of exploration into the experiential basis of knowledge. Husserl believed that this crisis affected not only philosophy but also culture and the world at large, leading to a need for a deeper understanding of our consciousness and existence.

Highlights

Phenomenology is a philosophical approach to understanding how things appear to our awareness and the world as we experience it.

Modern philosophical phenomenology originated with Edmund Husserl, focusing on subjective experience.

Phenomenology involves reflecting on everyday experience to uncover its underlying structure and coherence.

Pure phenomenology, also known as transcendental phenomenology, is associated with Husserl's work.

Existential phenomenology, associated with thinkers like Heidegger and Sartre, focuses on the individual's experience.

The natural attitude is our usual way of perceiving reality as separate from our subjective experience.

The phenomenological attitude involves suspending belief in the natural attitude to focus on consciousness.

The epoché, or bracketing, allows us to focus on the experiential terrain of consciousness.

The phenomenological reduction is the shift in perspective that comes from adopting a phenomenological attitude.

Phenomenology can reveal insights into the fundamental nature of things, such as the variability of time's meaning.

Phenomenology is an adventurous activity that involves becoming aware of the basic structure of our lives.

Husserl's method involves searching for the essences or eide of experience through phenomenological reduction.

The eidetic reduction and imaginary variation help to explore the essential nature of experiences like dreaming.

Intentionality in phenomenology refers to consciousness being both active and referential.

Husserl's later work focused on exploring the life world, which includes the intersubjective and social spheres.

Existential phenomenology was influenced by Husserl's ideas and further developed by philosophers like Heidegger.

Phenomenology has influenced the field of psychology, leading to the development of phenomenological psychology.

Phenomenological psychology uses qualitative research methods to analyze personal experiences of psychological phenomena.

Husserl believed that the lack of exploration of experiential basis in Western philosophy and science has led to a crisis.

Modern phenomenology aims to address the crisis in philosophy and culture by understanding our experience and consciousness.

Transcripts

Edmund Husserl and the adventure of

phenomenology in 12 minutes

what is the adventure of phenomenology

before examining this question it's

probably good to spend a few seconds on

disambiguation since the term

phenomenology appears in more than one

context the term first came into

prominence during the Enlightenment

period when philosophers such as Conte

and Hegel began using it however

phenomenology in its modern

philosophical sense began with the work

of the Czech German philosopher Edmund

Husserl

who lived from 1859 to 1938 and has

continued through the 20th and 21st

centuries basically modern philosophical

phenomenology is about trying to provide

an account of how things appear to our

awareness and ultimately how the world

appears to us in terms of our subjective

experience of it in other words

phenomenology is about reflecting upon

our everyday experience in order to gain

some sense of its underlying order

structure and coherence within the broad

scope of this project there are two

basic variants pure phenomenology which

is also sometimes known as

transcendental phenomenology is the type

of phenomenology associated with who

sural over the course of his career who

Cyril further divided pure phenomenology

into what are known as its static and

genetic forms however in contrast to

pure phenomenology existential

phenomenon G is a type of

phenomenological inquiry associated with

later thinkers such as Martin Heidegger

Maurice merleau-ponty

and jean-paul Sartre within whorls

framework the usual way we see reality

is in terms of what he calls the natural

attitude where we proceed through our

lives with the common natural belief

that the reality we inhabit is

fundamentally separable from our

subjective experience of it that the

world is out there relative to our

experience of it however in contrast to

the natural attitude it is possible to

adopt a phenomenological attitude

wherein we suspend or bracket our belief

in the natural

by recognizing that it is just that a

kind of belief

note that this is very different from

disbelieving in the natural attitude

this act of bracketing which is

sometimes known as the epic a allows us

to turn our attention to the ongoing

activity of consciousness through which

our experience of reality is ultimately

constituted postural calls the overall

act of using the Epoque a to reveal this

experiential terrain the

phenomenological reduction the basic

shift in perspective that comes from

employing the phenomenological reduction

to assume a phenomenological attitude

toward our experience can produce some

surprising insights into the fundamental

nature of things for instance from the

point of view of the natural attitude a

minute of time is simply a minute of

time regardless of how or where we spend

it however from the point of view of the

phenomenological attitude a minute of

time depends on how we actually

experience it for instance a minute of

time may pass very quickly for us if

we're excited or very slowly if we're

bored the upshot here is that the

meaning of time can vary considerably

depending upon whether we're viewing it

from the perspective of the natural

attitude or from that of the

phenomenological attitude but of course

the same thing applies to all the other

facets of our lives their significance

varies quite a bit depending upon

whether we're viewing them from a

natural or a phenomenological

perspective this is part of what makes

phenomenology and adventurous activity

because phenomenology involves becoming

aware the basic structure of our lives

things like the nature of reality and

consciousness and exploring them instead

of just taking them for granted although

the specific techniques for doing this

are somewhat complex let's take a few

seconds to give you a general sense for

them as hosts oral describes and one of

his main works a work called ideas the

way to go about exploring consciousness

is to undertake a search for what he

calls its essences or I das that is the

features of our experience that are both

necessary and invariant and that

consequently make our experience what it

is but how does one do that once one has

turned one's reflective awareness toward

experience by employing the

phenomenological reduction one can then

undertake a second reduction called nyuk

reduction with respect to some more

specific question such as what makes a

dream a dream what ho Cyril is after is

a special moment in the enquires

reflective awareness a moment that he

calls an intuition in which the Enquirer

realizes the essential nature of say a

dream

the eidetic reduction helps bring about

an intuition into something's essence by

employing a method known as imaginary

variation in imaginary variation The

Inquirer varies all the possible

attributes of an experience as a way of

exploring what is truly necessary for it

to be what it is to explore what makes a

dream a dream for instance for example

would it still be a dream if nothing

weird ever happened in it would it still

be a dream if I couldn't remember having

fallen asleep beforehand would it still

be a dream if my consciousness felt

sharp rather than slightly fuzzy etc

hopefully this kind of exploration helps

the Inquirer have a special moment of

intuition a kind of aha moment in which

he or she realizes the experiences

overall essential nature as Husserl once

famously characterized his project back

to the things themselves by which he

meant the things as we experience them

rather than as we take them typically

for granted one of the first important

realizations that appear in pure

phenomenology is the realization that

consciousness is intentional which here

is a technical term that's definitely

not identical to the normal English word

in phenomenological parlance

intentionality denotes two things

simultaneously the intentionality of

consciousness means that consciousness

is action alinder that it is a kind of

activity or doing second intentionality

means that consciousness is referential

in

sure the consciousness is always

referring to something let's look at an

example the kind of consciousness we

have when we're dreaming involves the

actual activity of dreaming this is the

action-oriented side of dream

consciousness which is sometimes known

as an oasis technically at the same time

dream consciousness involves a referent

in this case a specific dream which is

sometimes known as a no way m'a

technically basically as who learned

from his mentor

Franz Brentano consciousness is not like

a box that contains perceptions instead

consciousness is an active ongoing

referential process but in terms of our

subjective experience what makes dream

consciousness different from other modes

of consciousness what would the essence

of dreaming be what would be its

necessary and invariant features the

answer would reside in giving an account

of how no a sees and no Amata go here

and unfold over time in dream

consciousness and a phenomenology of

dream consciousness would aim at

exploring how that specifically happens

exploring consciousness in this way

occupied Husserl for several decades

however toward the end of his life he

recast his vision of phenomenology in

terms of exploring what he called the

life world basically the life world is

the total assemblage of the entire world

as we know it including the inter

subjective and social spheres this shift

in emphasis also heralded the advent of

existential phenomenology whose

exponents such as Heidegger Marilu Ponte

and Sartre would become household names

in the decades that followed

phenomenology x' emphasis on exploring

different states of consciousness and

the life world from an experiential

perspective has also helped to gain

inroads into the domain of psychology

and indeed phenomenology has inspired

and influenced an entire school of

psychological thought known naturally

enough as phenomenological psychology

basically phenomenological psychology

proceeds on the basis of the theoretical

and methodological foundation

established not only by huh Cyril but

also by the existential phenomenological

thinkers who followed him given that

foundation in phenomenological

philosophy phenomenological psychology

seeks to explore people's experiences of

various psychological phenomena such as

the experience of living through major

depression or recovering from drug

addiction often this takes the form of

asking people to describe their personal

experiences of these sorts of things and

then applying a stepwise qualitative

research method to analyze those

descriptions in order to reveal their

underlying psychological meaning all in

all phenomenology z' influence on

psychology was also one among many

forces that have invited psychology to

shift its center away from being a

purely objective istic undertaking - one

that is also able to embrace and

understand psychological phenomena in

more subjective experience all terms but

why is all of this important in the

final analysis why does it matter

whether we explore our consciousness or

our existence or our being in the way

that phenomenological thinkers like who

Cyril described in his last unfinished

work Horrell gives at least a partial

answer to that question for her Cyril

the fact that Western philosophy and

science have proceeded almost entirely

on the basis of the natural attitude

without truly exploring the experiential

basis that underlies it has produced a

kind of crisis in both philosophy and

culture and ultimately in the world as

we know it as he writes the crisis of

philosophy implies the crisis of all

modern Sciences as members of the

philosophical universe at first a latent

then a more and more prominent crisis of

European humanity itself in respect to

the total meaningfulness of its cultural

life it's total existence for instance

isn't this a big part of why our modern

world ends up giving birth to so much

chaos and devastation on such a regular

basis isn't it largely because we're

proceeding through modernity with no

real understanding of the most

fundamental

of our lives such as our consciousness

our being and existence as such modern

phenomenology represents an attempt to

address that crisis by grounding both

philosophy and science and by

implication the whole of our

technological world in a thoughtful

methodical understanding of our

experience our consciousness and

ultimately the life world that we

inhabit and that's literal in 12 minutes

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