Pathways to Phenomenology

Index of the Section: "Pathways to Western Philosophy"

General and Introductory Works (a selection of reference works on philosophy)
Formal and Descriptive Metaphysics (a brief guide to the introductory literature on metaphysics)
Formal and Descriptive Ontology (a brief guide to the introductory literature on ontology)
Philosophical Logic and the Philosophy of Logic (readings on some selected arguments)
Analytic Philosophy (introductory and historical works)
Phenomenology (introductory and historical works)

SUGGESTED READINGS

Realism and the background of phenomenology. Edited by Chisholm Roderick. Atascadero, California: Ridgeview 1960.

From the Editor's Introduction: "Writing on Meinong in 1904, Bertrand Russell formulated a set of theses which might be taken to define 'realism,' in one of its most significant philosophical senses. Russell's theses were these: 'that every presentation and every belief must have an object other than itself and, except in certain cases where mental existents happen to be concerned, extra-mental; that what is commonly called perception has as its object an existential proposition, into which enters as a constituent that whose existence is concerned, and not the idea of this existent; that truth and falsehood apply not to beliefs, but to their objects; and that the object of a thought, even when this object does not exist, has a Being which is in no way dependent upon its being an object of thought.' (1) These theses, taken with Franz Brentano's doctrine of 'intentionality' --his description of what it is for a presentation or, belief to have an object -- will help us to understand the development of twentieth-century realism and the background of phenomenology.

The thesis that the objects of presentation and belief are ordinarily extra-mental was formulated in opposition to idealism and was common to all of the forms of realism. But Husserl was to reject it in the later stages of his phenomenology. The realists were to differ among themselves as to what the 'object of presentation' might be in the case of perception. And the final thesis -- that 'the object of a thought, even when this object does not exist, has a Being which is in no way dependent upon its being an object of thought' -- was rejected, for different reasons, by Brentano and by Meinong."

(1) Bertrand Russell, "Meinong's Theory of Complexes and Assumptions," Mind, n.s. XIII (1904), 204. Russell notes, "I have been led to accept these theses by Mr. G. E. Moore," and adds: "Except Frege, I know of no writer on the theory of knowledge who comes as near to this position as Meinong."

Contents: Preface V; Editor's Introduction 3; Selections. 1. Franz Brentano: The distinction between mental and physical phenomena 39; 2. Franz Brentano: Presentation and judgment form two distinct fundamental classes 62, 3. Franz Brentano: Genuine and fictitious objects 76; 4. Alexius Meinong: The theory of objects 76; 5. Edmund Husserl: Phenomenology 118; 6. Edmund Husserl: Phenomenology and anthropology 129; 7. H. A. Prichard: Appearances and reality 143; 8. E. B. Holt, W. T. Marvin, W. P. Montague, R. B. Perry, W. B. Pitkin, and E. G. Spaulding: Introduction to 'The New Realism' 151; 9. Samuel Alexander: The basis of realism 186; 10. Bertrand Russell: The ultimate constituents of matter 223; 11. Arthur C. Lovejoy: A temporalistic realism 238; 12. G. E. Moore: A defense of common sense 255; Selected bibliography 283; Index 305-308.

Bernet Rudolf, Kern Iso, and Marbach Eduard. An introduction to Husserlian phenomenology. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press 1993.

From the Foreword by Lester Embree: "This masterful volume will be the standard overview in English of Edmund Husserl's philosophy for at least a generation. Of course, an enormous amount has now been written about phenomenology. One can have mixed feelings about the fact that the vast bulk of it is interpretive when the phenomenologist himself hoped so hard that there would be generations of research, not on what he had written, but rather into the matters themselves, that is, investigations for which his own crude results would provide only points of departure and inspiration. The first generation of phenomenologists understood this, and perhaps the third will remember it. This is not to say that there is no place for scholarship on texts, for such invaluable research makes finding points of departure and drawing inspiration easier. From that perspective, then, the present work simply raises Husserl scholarship to a new plateau. Future investigators will appreciate this great leg up."

Spiegelberg Herbert. The phenomenological movement: a historical introduction. The Hague, Boston: Martinus Nijhoff 1982.

Third revised and enlarged edition with the collaboration of Karl Schuhmann.

From the Preface to the Third Edition: "In contrast to its predecessor the third edition represents a complete revision of the original text. The second edition of 1965, reprinted with only minor alterations in 1968, 1971 and 1976, could add corrections and additions merely in the form of an attached supplement geared to the text of the first edition by marginal numbers, which thus broke up the continuity of the main text. The present version incorporates these additions, thus restoring the original unity. But it is a revision in several additional respects.

In 1960 the first edition could be only a first raid on the total field of the Phenomenological Movement, undertaken with limited access to the original sources from a base far from the main fields of action. Obviously this attempt could be only preliminary and could present only a limited perspective of the total "phenomenon." Thus the book was and is in need of continuous revision. The present version contains further corrections of inaccuracies for whose identification I am indebted to several friends. To a limited extent it also tries to bring the story up to date. I am fully aware that for the Phenomenological Movement the Hegelian dusk needed for the flight of the owl of Minerva has not yet arrived. But some recent developments in the field are sufficiently established to require recording even today. However, the continued growth and widening of the Movement make the idea of a complete coverage more preposterous than ever, particularly if undertaken by one single reporter.(...)My original hope was to enlist a younger scholar with international perspective and intercontinental experience in the person of Guido King as co-author, a hope which did not materialize although he did support me freely by checking the earlier chapters of this edition. The main help came when Karl Schuhmann volunteered to examine the entire manuscript and to supervise the final production of the new book, in addition to contributing a detailed footnote about Husserl's adoption of the term 'phenomenology.' This is why at my request his name now appears as that of my major collaborator on the title page."

Contents: List of illustrations XXI; Preface to the First Edition XXIII; Preface to the Third Edition XXXIV; List of Abbreviations XLIX; Introduction 1; Part One. The preparatory phase. I. Franz Brentano (1838-1917): forerunner of the phenomenological movement 27; II. Carl Stumpf (1848-1936): founder of experimental phenomenology 51; Part Two. The German phase of the Movement. III. The pure phenomenology of Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) 69; IV: The original Phenomenological Movement 166; V. The phenomenology of essences: Max Scheler (1874-1928) 268; VI. Phenomenology in the critical ontology of Nicolai Hartmann (1882-1950) 306; VII. Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) as a phenomenologist 336; Part Three. The French phase of the Movement 425; VIII. The beginnings of French phenomenology 428; IX. Gabriel Marcel (1889-1974) as a phenomenologist 448; X. The phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) 470; XI. The phenomenological philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961) 337; XII. Paul Ricoeur and some associates 585; XIII. Emmanuel Levinas (1906-[1995]): Phenomenological philosophy (by Stephan Strasser) 612; Part Four. The geography of the Phenomenological Movement 653; Part Five. The essentials of the Phenomenological Method 678; Appendices. Chronology of the Phenomenological Movement in Germany, France and Anglo-American World 722; Index of subjects, combined with a selective glossary of phenomenological terms 736; Index of names 755-768.

Moran Dermot. Introduction to phenomenology. London, New York: Routledge 2000

From the Preface: "This book is an introduction to phenomenology, a movement which, in many ways, typifies the course of European philosophy in the twentieth century. Writing at the close of this era, the extent of this contribution can now be more clearly articulated, appreciated, and, inevitably, criticised. Phenomenology was announced by Edmund Husserl in 1900-1901 as a bold, radically new way of doing philosophy, an attempt to bring philosophy back from abstract metaphysical speculation wrapped up in pseudo-problems, in order to come into contact with the matters themselves, with concrete living experience. As Husserl originally envisaged it, phenomenology had much in common with William James' radical empiricism, but more than anything else it was stimulated by Franz Brentano's ground-breaking work in descriptive psychology, the a priori science of the acts and contents of consciousness. Somewhat later, Husserl came to realise the connection between his conception of phenomenology and Descartes's project of providing a secure edifice for knowledge. Husserl eventually came to see that his own project had much in common with Neo-Kantianism, and thus his phenomenology became a form of transcendental idealism. But his studies of consciousness also led him to pursue investigations into our awareness of time, and history, which led to his development of the concept of the life-world, and to investigations of the evolution of culture reminiscent of Hegel's phenomenology of spirit. (...)In this book, therefore, I have tried not only to provide accessible, critical introductions to the original precursor, Brentano, and the founders, Husserl and Heidegger, but also to indicate something of the range of the later development of the movement in Sartre, Levinas, and Merleau-Ponty, on the one hand, and in Heidegger's students, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Hannah Arendt, on the other. Perhaps the most unusual feature of the book is that I have decided to include both Gadamer and Arendt as important phenomenologists in their own right, but I believe that their inclusion is fully justified and rectifies an earlier neglect of their roles in the evolving story of phenomenology. The inclusion of Derrida, which may strike some phenomenological purists as odd, is justified, I believe, on the basis of his long engagement with phenomenological texts.(...)I have endeavoured to write this book in an accessible, jargon-free manner. I have tried to explain technical terms as they are introduced, and to connect phenomenological discussion with more traditional philosophical vocabulary and concerns. Above all else, I have tried to show the development of phenomenology from its origins in Brentano to its critique in Derrida. Because of the singular importance of Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger, I have devoted approximately half of the book to their visions of phenomenology. I have principally restricted my references to the primary sources and their translations, because I want to point those interested in the subject towards the actual texts themselves. Too often, students have been discouraged from exploring these texts by their sheer difficulty and complexity. I have made every effort here to attempt to demystify these texts and to clarify their complex mode of expression. If erring on the side of clarity leads students to read the original works, I shall be more than pleased. I also hope that this book may serve as a reliable guide for students primarily schooled in the analytic tradition, who are seeking an accessible introduction to the central strand of twentieth-century European philosophy. Hopefully, the common threads connecting the traditions will become apparent even where they are not explicitly treated." (pp. XIII-XIV).

Contents: Preface XIII; Acknowledgements XVII; List of abbreviations XIX; Introduction 1; 1. Franz Brentano: descriptive psychology and intentionality 23; 2. Edmund Husserl: founder of phenomenology 60; 3. Husserl's Logical investigations (1900-1901) 91; 4. Husserl's discovery of the reduction and transcendental phenomenology 124; 5. Husserl and the crisis of the European sciences 164; 6. Martin Heidegger's transformation of phenomenology 192, 7. Heidegger's Being and Time 222; 8. Hans-Georg Gadamer: philosophical hermeneutics 248; 9. Hannah Arendt: the phenomenology of the public sphere 287; 10. Emmanuel Levinas: the phenomenology of alterity 320; 11. Jean-Paul Sartre: passionate description 354; 12. Maurice Merleau-Ponty: the phenomenology of perception 391; 13. Jacques Derrida: from phenomenology to deconstruction 435; Notes 475; Bibliography 519; Index 550.

Sokolowski Robert. Introduction to phenomenology. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press 2000

From the Introduction: "My introduction to phenomenology generally uses the terminology formulated by Husserl, which has become standard in the movement. In chapter 1, I discuss intentionality, the central issue in phenomenology, and explain why it is an important topic in our current philosophical and cultural situation. Chapter 2 develops a simple example of the kind of analysis phenomenology provides, to give the reader a feeling for its style of thought. Chapter 3 examines three major themes in phenomenology: parts and wholes, identity in manifolds, and presence and absence. These three formal structures pervade phenomenology, and if we are alert to their presence, the point of many issues can more easily be grasped. I would also claim that while the themes of parts and wholes and identity in manifolds (one in many) are found in almost all philosophical schools, the explicit and sustained study of presence and absence is original in phenomenology. (...)Finally, Chapter 7 introduces the theme of categorial thinking, in which we do not just perceive things but articulate them, manifesting not just simple objects but arrangements and states of affairs. In categorial thinking we move from the experience of simple objects to the presentation of intelligible objects. This chapter also contains an important treatment of meanings, senses, and propositions. It strives to account for "concepts" and "thoughts" as being more public than they are often taken to be. It tries to show that senses and propositions are not psychological, mental, or conceptual entities. To understand propositions and senses in the right way is a crucial matter in discussing the nature of truth, especially in the philosophical climate generated by modern philosophy. Chapters 5 through 7, then, offer phenomenological descriptions of three domains of experience: the "internal" field of memory and imagination, the "external" field of perceived objects, words, pictures, and symbols, and the "intellectual" field of categorial objects. (...)I define phenomenology by locating it within our present historical situation. Modern philosophy has two major elements, political philosophy and epistemology, and phenomenology explicitly addresses only the latter. However, because it considers human reason as ordered toward evidence and truth, phenomenology can also address in an indirect way modern issues in political theory. If human beings are specified by the ability to be truthful, then politics and citizenship take on a distinctive sense.

In considering reason as teleologically geared toward truth, phenomenology resembles Thomistic philosophy, which represents a premodern understanding of being and the mind, but it differs from Thomism in that it does not approach philosophy from within biblical revelation. Both phenomenology and Thomism are alternatives to the modern project, but in different ways, and contrasting them with one another further clarifies phenomenology as a form of philosophy.

This book introduces the reader to the terminology and the ideas of one of the major twentieth-century developments in philosophy. This development, phenomenology, does not belong only to the past. It can help us as we strive to remind ourselves, at the start of a new century and a new millennium, of things we can never entirely forget. The book began in a conversation between mathematics and philosophy; may it help us cultivate the life of reason expressed in both these human adventures." (pp. 4-7).

Contents: Acknowledgments IX; Introduction 1; 1. What is Intentionality, and why is it important?; 2. Perception of a cube as a paradigm of conscious experience 17; 3. Three fromal structures in phenomenology 22; 4. An initial statement of what phenomenology is 42; 5. Perception, memory, and imagination 66; 6. Words, pictures, and symbols 77; 7. Categorial intentions and objects 88; 8. Phenomenology of the Self 112; 9. Temporality 130; 10. The Life World and Intersubjectivity 146; 11. Reason, truth, and evidence 156; 12. Eidetic intuition 177; 13. Phenomenology defined 185; 14. Phenomenology in the present historical context 198; Appendix: Phenomenology in the last one hundred years 211; Select bibliography 228; Index 232

Kaelin Eugene F. and Schrag Calvin O. American phenomenology; origins and developments. Dordrecht: Reidel Publishing Company 1990.

From the Introductory Note: "American Phenomenology comprises an effort to provide a picture of the multifaceted influences of phenomenology on North-American thought. The volume contains both essays about the American progenitors of phenomenological philosophy (Part I) and self-presentations by a host of currently active authors and teachers whose thought has been shaped in some manner or another by the phenomenological movement (Part II). The contributions which make up the volume articulate a dual vector of influence. On the one hand, they illustrate the impact of indigenous European phenomenology on American modes of thought; on the other, they show how American scholars have shaped the expression of phenomenology as an American phenomenon, reflecting the plurality and diversity that has been a trademark of American culture since its inception.

Part I consists of individual essays on the thought of Marvin Farber (by Sang-Ki Kim); John Wild (by James Edie and William McBride); Aron Gurwitsch and Dorian Cairns (by Lester Embree); Alfred Schutz (by Helmut Wagner and Kurt Wolff); Fritz Kaufmann (by Lois Oppenheim and Hans Rudnick); and Moritz Geiger (by Algis Mickunas). The contributions of these progenitors, all now deceased, played a consequential role in the transportation of European phenomenology to American soil. We do not claim that these luminaries simply borrowed the methodologies and organizing concepts of European phenomenology. Each provided a distinctive format of phenomenological analysis and criticism of some aspects of our contemporary American culture.

Part II of the volume is devoted to self-presentation essays by a rather broad spectrum of American scholars who have worked and who continue to work with the phenomenological literature; in many cases these second generation American phenomenologists have devised new directions for its application to the American experience in such disciplines as philosophy, literature, the human sciences, education, rhetoric and communication. This very interdisciplinary spread serves to give notice of the range and breadth of the impact of phenomenology on American thought in our own lifetime."

Stewart David and Mickunas Algis. Exploring phenomenology. A guide to the field and its literature. Athens: Ohio University Press 1990.

Second revised edition. (First edition 1974). From the Preface: "A major part of this book is devoted to the literature in the field of phenomenology, and the lengthy bibliographies at the end of each chapter are intended to provide a guide to all the major areas of phenomenological research. No claim is made, however, for the exhaustiveness of these bibliographies. Even though phenomenology is a rather recent philosophical movement, the literature produced by the movement is massive, particularly in Europe where it first gained widespread attention. In compiling the bibliographic sections of this book, selectivity rather than comprehensiveness was our goal. Major emphasis is placed on works in English, and if a book is available in English translation, no mention is made of its original foreign language edition, except in the case of volumes in the Husserliana and Phaenomenologica series, which constitute major publication efforts in the field. Where existing bibliographies are available in particular areas relevant to phenomenology, they have been cited with no attempt to duplicate their entries. In determining which of the foreign-language materials should be included, we have selected those works which have had the greatest impact on the development of phenomenology and are most widely cited by philosophers working within the phenomenological tradition. Journal articles are included whenever they add a significant insight to an understanding of phenomenology. All bibliographical entries are numbered to facilitate cross references. The entries are annotated except those titles that clearly indicate the contents of the work and some foreign-language works, whose titles tend to be more descriptive than those of works published in English. No annotation is offered for the works cited in the Appendix inasmuch as it is mainly a guide to further reading, whereas the works most directly relevant to the development of phenomenology are included in the bibliographies following each chapter. The guiding principle throughout has been to provide a manageable as well as useful guide to the literature most accessible and most helpful to the student of phenomenology in this country."

Contents: Preface; Part 1. The origins of phenomenology. Chapter 1. General themes of phenomenology; Chapter 2. Husserl and the phenomenological movement; Chapter 3. Further development of the phenomenological method; Part 2. Further expansion of phenomenology. Chapter 4. Existential phenomenology; Chapter 5.Traditional problems phenomenologically treated; Chapter 6. Phenomenology applied to to her disciplines; Chapter 7. The ongoing tasks of phenomenology; Appendix: bibliographies on individual philosophers; Supplement to second edition; Index

Encyclopedia of phenomenology. Edited by Embree Lester et alii. Dordrecht, Boston: Kluwer 1997.

From the Preface: "This encyclopedia presents phenomenological thought and the phenomenological movement within philosophy and within more than a score of other disciplines on a level accessible to professional colleagues of other orientations as well as to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Entries average 3,000 words. In practically all cases, they include lists of works 'For Further Study.' The Introduction briefly chronicles the changing phenomenological agenda and compares phenomenology with other 20th Century movements.

The 166 entries are about matters of seven sorts: (1) the four broad tendencies and periods within the phenomenological movement; (2) twenty-three national traditions of phenomenology; (3)twenty-two philosophical sub-disciplines, including those referred to with the formula 'the philosophy of x'; (4) phenomenological tendencies within twenty-one non-philosophical disciplines; (5) forty major phenomenological topics; (6) twenty-eight leading phenomenological figures; and (7) twenty-seven non-phenomenological figures and movements of interesting similarities and differences with phenomenology."

Phenomenology world-wide: foundations, expanding dynamisms, life-engagements. A guide for research and study. Edited by Tymieniecka Anna-Teresa. Dordrecht: Kluwer 2002.

"On bringing this encyclopedia of learning in phenomenology to the public, I want to express my warm thanks to our colleagues who have lent me their support by enlisting in the editorial board of this undertaking, as well as to all our contributors, who by their dedicated effort have made this project happen. The worldwide scope of their expertise and the high level of scholarship make it manifest that phenomenology is present and well grounded around the world.

The fact that the majority of our contributors are longtime participants in the work of the World Phenomenology Institute manifests the Institute's extensive and profound work and makes this encyclopedia of learning in phenomenology its crowning natural accomplishment.

So far unique- in its kind, our guide is meant to offer a survey in depth of phenomenological learning. It is meant for the scholar in phenomenology as well as for the scholarly layman. It presents the complete body of learning/scholarship in phenomenology. A Glossary of Terms aids the general reader.

Here is the harvest of a hundred years. In these seven hundred some pages we have traced in in-depth specialized studies the course that the phenomenological inspiration of Edmund Husserl took in his followers and goes on taking. We have done this pinpointing the main assumptions of the Husserlian endeavor, tendencies, and aims while marking the turning points of their unfolding. Great attention is given to the main thinkers who came after Husserl, to their own original developments of his thinking in various directions. Lastly, great attention is paid to the ways in which phenomenology has informed, enlivened, influenced the fields of knowledge whether in the humanities or in the sciences.

We owe the reader some explanation of our roster of subjects and philosophers. I hope that all of the classical phenomenological thinkers of the first wave of phenomenology have been mentioned in appropriate places; we have chosen for a special individual entry only a few, namely, those whose influence remains alive and actual in contemporary phenomenological reflection. From the second wave of the phenomenological efflorescence, we have given an individual entry to all of the thinkers who made a substantial contribution to the field or exercised a major influence in their cultural area, while others have been mentioned in appropriate places in either specialized studies or in an account of phenomenology in their nation. These may be located using the Index of Names.

As a matter of fact, we are not giving a general survey of phenomenological life in all countries. For that one may consult the last quarter century's issues of our journal Phenomenological Inquiry (formerly Phenomenology Information Bulletin). Here are covered, first, the most significant areas like Germany, the United States, Belgium, the Netherlands, etc. secondly, those countries that have now emerged from Soviet domination (e.g., Georgia, Latvia, Slovakia), and then places we have not presented before, like India. I hope that all will find themselves in an appropriate entry.

Our view of phenomenology is very inclusive and broad, including all the allegiances of the scholars who feel an affinity with it. However, it should be understood, as I point out briefly in the Introduction, that in this allegiance there are several "circles" or rings to be distinguished, according to the clarity found of an at least immanent awareness of following more or less essentially phenomenology's procedures for achieving legitimate recognitions. Not every type of description complies with the rules of phenomenological description. The all-over- riding call of Husserl is that we clarify as closely as possible what we are doing philosophically.

The volume will offer all necessary references for research and probing in phenomenology. But this is not its only or even main task.

Amid the diverse sweep of doctrines, approaches, views that claim allegiance to phenomenology, it is of paramount importance for a researcher or student of phenomenology to have guidelines that he may orient himself/herself in this field, in order to find proper bearings and phenemenology's authentic significance in the history of philosophy, its present aims, and inspirations too for pursuing it further." (From the Preface by Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka)

Ontology and the History of Logic

Table of Ontologists (PDF)

Ontologists of the 19th and 20th Centuries

Living Ontologists (a list of authors with an interest in ontology, with synthetic bibliographies)

Last modified: Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Pathways to Phenomenology

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