The Idea of Phenomenology: A Translation of Die Idee Der Phänomenologie Husserliana II

By Edmund Husserl

Book Overview

3 same lecture he characterizes the phenomenology of knowledge, more specifically, as the "theory of the essence of the pure phenomenon of knowing" (see below, p. 36). Such a phenomenology would advance the "critique of knowledge," in which the problem of knowledge is clearly formulated and the possibility of knowledge rigorously secured. It is important to realize, however, that in these lectures Husserl will not enact, pursue, or develop a phenomenological critique of knowledge, even though he opens with a trenchant statement of the problem of knowledge that such a critique would solve. Rather, he seeks here only to secure the possibility of a phe- nomenological critique of knowledge; that is, he attempts to secure the possibility of the knowledge of the possibility of knowledge, not the possibil- ity of knowledge in general (see below, pp. 37-39). Thus the work before us is not phenomenological in the straightforward sense, but pre- phenomenological: it sets out to identify and satisfy the epistemic require- ments of the phenomenological critique of knowledge, not to carry out that critique itself. To keep these two levels of theoretical inquiry distinct, I will call the level that deals with the problem of the possibility of knowledge the "critical level"; the level that deals with the problem of the possibility of the knowledge of the possibility of knowledge the "meta-criticallevel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0792355008
• ISBN13: 9780792355007
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Springer
• Length: 72 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A Bit Pricey but Good

The Idea of Phenomenology is Volume VIII of the recent Husserl's Collected Works Series published by Kluwer. This small text consists of five short lectures (and some immediate post-lecture reflections) given by Husserl in 1907. These lectures represent the first public exposition of his phenomenology and are reminiscent of Descartes' Meditations - in that Husserl grapples with the question of knowledge. Lee Hardy's new English translation is generally clear and readable. Although probably for a limited readership, I recommend it for fans of Husserl and readers interested in the origins of phenomenology.