HUSSERL - OVERVIEW

<BODY> <TABLE WIDTH=400 BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Left SRC="2101a.jpg" WIDTH="88" HEIGHT="150" ALT="HUSSERL"></TD> <TD><CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>HUSSERL</FONT><BR> THE PHENOMENOLOGIST<P> (1859-1938)</B></FONT><BR><BR> "The science of nature presupposes the science of mind."</CENTER></TD> </TR> </TABLE> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Overview</B></FONT><P> Edmund Husserl saw modern science in crisis. Its claims to objectivity failed to recognise the active role of consciousness in developing human understanding. He developed <A HREF="../t03/g038.html" TARGET="_top">phenomenology</A>, a methodology designed to examine the contents of one's own consciousness. The examination of pure phenomena is seen as a means to return to the fundaments of knowledge and how the world first appears to the consciousness. The focus is on the <B>subjective</B> process of thinking rather than on what others would consider the <B>objective</B> facts of empirical science.<P> His method of phenomenological reduction requires the suspension of all assumptions about the external causes and results of the contents of consciousness. The aim is to discern the essential nature of mental acts and thus the truths that are the sources of human knowledge.<P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>MAJOR WORKS</B></FONT><BR> <ul> <li>"Philosophy of Arithmetic" (1891) <li>"Logical Investigations" (1900-1) <li>"Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology" (1913) <li>"The Crisis of the European Sciences and and Transcendental Phenomenology" (1935-7) </ul> <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>