Foundations of Phenomenology

The historical background of phenomenology is not well understood because it covers a wide range of themes, carries no systematic doctrines, and follows no single school of thought.

Most of the notable philosophical movements were well structured and well defined. The Scholastic School was bound by a long lineage of teachers who begat students. There was no such luck for phenomenological philosophy.

If there is one central figure of phenomenology, however, it is Edmund Husserl (1859-1938). A professor of philosophy at the University of Freiburg, he sought to broach topics traditionally outside the scope of science. In particular, his work involved systematizing the nature of consciousness and experience.

Compared to the scientific method, his approach was intuitive and subjective. When Sir Francis Bacon established the scientific method in the seventeenth century, he intended to explain objective phenomena in nature. The scientific method uses objective data and experimentation in order to verify a hypothesis. If the result can be reproduced, scientists consider their data to be reliable.

The phenomenological approach necessarily differs because it deals with subjective criteria. Since the scientific method is not viable, phenomenologists prefer to gather collective consciousness (‘capta’) and form assumptions based on human experience (‘epoché’). In other words, objective research is eschewed in favor of anecdotal evidence in the form of first person experience.

The Cartesians of the past believe in the dualistic approach of viewing the world as a collection of objects. Methodic doubt, where philosophers break down statements into absolute truths in order to reject bias, is an example of Cartesian thinking. Phenomenologists, on the other hand, see the world as a set of phenomenon experienced by the consciousness of man.

The conception of what it means to be is one of the most important questions of existence, and philosophers have debated it for thousands of years. Even though the details of existence have been elusive, most philosophers agree that we do in fact exist. If we assume we exist in arguendo, then we must understand the nature of existence. In other words, we must understand the nature of consciousness.