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In a literal, historical sense, the first phenomenologist was Edmund Husserl, but I want to look for the first phenomenologist in the logical sense -- what are the defining traits of a phenomenological philosophical worldview?
1. Phenomenology as a synthesis of two approaches to philosophy:
rationalism and empiricism.
2. Phenomenology as a response to Kantianism
1. Phenomenology as a synthesis of two approaches to philosophy: rationalism and empiricism.
Rationalism:
Through a process of abstraction (a rational "seeing into" or insight), we can achieve fundamental insights into reality. These insights are, in turn, guides to further truths. |
Empiricism:
Perceptual "looking" leads to us to discriminate specific features of our experience and thematize them as "primary," belonging to mind independent reality. Conceptual understanding of large structures in reality must be built up from these smaller truths. |
Phenomenology as a synthesis of these approaches:
First, the phenomenologist asks whether there might be a kind of "seeing" which discloses essences directly in the phenomena, but without first objectifying experience as in empiricism. |
2. Phenomenology as a response to Kantianism
Kantianism encourages us to view phenomena as conditioned by mind, but this turns out to be rather counterintuitive since many phenomena present themselves to us as independent of mind. The phenomenology wants to show that the "reality" of the phenomenon is disclosed to a careful observer and that when phenomena disclose themselves as "essences," the question of whether the experience is conditioned or unconditioned by mind becomes less relevant.
For example, the "essence" of a mathematical truth presents itself to us as mind independent. The phenomenologist's wager is that there are also essences that are not content-less (as mathematical and logical truths are) and which also present themselves to us as mind independent.
©1997 by Mark Alfino, Department of Philosophy, Gonzaga University.