Origins

What is Phenomenology?

· Phenomenology is the study of structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view.

· It is commonly understood in either of two ways: as a disciplinary field in philosophy, or as a movement in the history of philosophy.

· The discipline of phenomenology may be defined initially as the study of structures of experience, or consciousness

· The historical movement of phenomenology is the philosophical tradition launched in the first half of the 20th century by Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Jean-Paul Sartre, //et al//

· As a discipline has been central to the tradition of continental European philosophy throughout the 20th century, while philosophy of mind has evolved in the Austro-Anglo-American tradition of analytic philosophy that developed throughout the 20th century


 * [[image:Franz_Brentano.jpg width="194" height="292"]] || [[image:husserl.jpg width="223" height="292"]] ||
 * Franz Brentan || Edmund Husserl ||

​ ** From Phenomena to Phenomenology **

· //The Oxford English Dictionary// presents the following definition: “Phenomenology. a. The science of phenomena as distinct from being (ontology).

· In philosophy, the term is used in the first sense, amid debates of theory and methodology.

· In its root meaning, then, phenomenology is the study of //phenomena//: literally, appearances as opposed to reality. This ancient distinction launched philosophy as we emerged from Plato's cave.

· Yet the discipline of phenomenology did not blossom until the 20th century and remains poorly understood in many circles of contemporary philosophy

· Originally, in the 18th century, “phenomenology” meant the theory of appearances fundamental to empirical knowledge, especially sensory appearances. The term seems to have been introduced by Johann Heinrich Lambert, a follower of Christian Wolff

· By 1889 Franz Brentano used the term to characterize what he called “descriptive psychology”.

· From there Edmund Husserl took up the term for his new science of consciousness, and the rest is history.

· In 18th and 19th century epistemology, then, phenomena are the starting points in building knowledge, especially science. Accordingly, in a familiar and still current sense, phenomena are whatever we observe (perceive) and seek to explain.

· In Franz Brentano's //Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint// (1874), phenomena are what occur in the mind: mental phenomena are acts of consciousness (or their contents), and physical phenomena are objects of external perception starting with colors and shapes

· In 1889 Brentano used the term “phenomenology” for descriptive psychology, and the way was paved for Husserl's new science of phenomenology.

· In 1891, Two importantly different lines of theory came together in that monumental work: psychological theory, and logical or semantic theory

· In the 1950s materialism was argued anew, urging that mental states are identical with states of the central nervous system.

· In the late 1960s and 1970s the computer model of mind set in, and functionalism became the dominant model of mind

· In the 1980s John Searle argued in that intentionality and consciousness are essential //properties of mental states//

· Since the mid-1990s a variety of writers working in philosophy of mind have focused on the fundamental character of consciousness, ultimately a phenomenological issue

· //When Hindu and// Buddhist philosophers reflected on states of consciousness achieved in a variety of meditative states, they were practicing phenomenology.

· The discipline of phenomenology forms one basic field in philosophy among others.

**How is phenomenology distinguished from, and related to, other fields in philosophy?**


 * Ontology is the study of beings or their being — what is.
 * Epistemology is the study of knowledge — how we know.
 * Logic is the study of valid reasoning — how to reason.
 * Ethics is the study of right and wrong — how we should act.
 * Phenomenology is the study of our experience — how we experience.

References: //First published Sun Nov 16, 2003; substantive revision Mon Jul 28, 2008//
 * Phenomenology**

From YouTube, the first 7 1/2 minutes of this audio file talks about the philosophy of Edmund Husserl. The beginnings of Phenomenology at the turn of the 20th century.

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