Phenomenology (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what phenomenology is, its origin, history and basic concepts. The method it uses, its research and applications.

What is phenomenology?

Phenomenology, often defined as a “science of essences,” is a philosophical movement founded by Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) at the beginning of the 20th century.

As its name indicates (literally “science of phenomena”), its field of research is that of phenomena as they are given to consciousness, that is, experiences and their objective correlates. Besides, studies the structures that receive and shape subjective experience as well as the various operations that are at play in the occurrence of phenomena and their reception by consciousness.

As a philosophical current, phenomenology It has its own method, which is the phenomenological method or epoché. This was developed mainly by Husserl and, later, by Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), a disciple of Husserl and a critical continuator of his works. Both philosophers had a great impact on 20th century philosophy, especially thanks to their subsequent reception in the French academic world. In this sense, it is worth mentioning different figures such as Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), Emmanuel Lévinas (1906-1995), Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) and Jean-Luc Marion (1946-.).

In recent years, different disciplines have been approaching phenomenology or, directly, have emerged thanks to it. Some of them are epistemology, hermeneutics, social sciences, educational sciences, different artistic expressions and even several strict sciences in the field of exact sciences.

Etymology and meaning of the term “phenomenology”

The term “phenomenology” is composed of the Greek phainomenon (φαινόμενον), “phenomenon”, and of logoswhich translates as “study” or “science.” Therefore phenomenology It is understood, in general terms, as the study of the phenomenon.

Phainomenon has its origin in the grammatical particle phóswhich means “light” (hence, for example, “phosphorus”). The phenomenon is “what is given to light”, “the appearing” or “what is shown”. In Being and timeHeidegger maintains that the phenomenon, due to its etymological origin, must be understood as “what is shown in itself.”

History of phenomenology

The phenomenology emerged as a philosophical movement at the beginning of the 20th century. Even though it has some historical antecedents in the academic world, especially the works of Hume and Kant, phenomenology as a movement arose strictly from the works of Edmund Husserl.

Between 1900 and 1901, the logical investigations by Husserl in which he presented phenomenology for the first time as a science of essences, in strict opposition to psychologism. Phenomenology appeared as a method that described the intentional experiences of consciousness and the agreement between these experiences and the meaning that consciousness itself gave to what was experienced.

With the publication of Relative ideas to a pure phenomenology and a phenomenological philosophy (published by Husserl in 1913 and better known as Ideas I) the idea of a transcendental phenomenology appeared. This consists of a process of access to pure consciousness through epoché (the suspension of prior judgment) as its own method of reduction. Reduction is a system of steps to isolate the phenomenon as such and to be able to find the object transcendent to consciousness.

Husserl's research changed over time. However, his ideas were generally received from these early works. One of Husserl's greatest recipients was his disciple Martin Heidegger who even replaced him as president of the university. Heidegger critically reformulated many of Husserl's ideas and turned his research toward an ontology of being.

Both philosophers were received with great enthusiasm in the French world of philosophy. Both Emannuel Levinas, Jean-Paul Sartre and Maurice Merleau-Ponty were great disseminators of his works. To them we owe what is known today as French phenomenology.

General concepts of phenomenology

In any philosophical system that is based on phenomenology there is a series of common conceptual terms that must be taken into account. This is because their use is technical and, in many cases, they are terms that do not have a translation from German to other languages.

Intentionality. Consciousness is distinguished by its intentional character, that is, consciousness is always aware of something, it is always directed at something.
Intuition. It is the most general way that puts us in contact with the object. There are several types of intuitive acts: perception (puts us in direct contact with the object)remembering, waiting and image consciousness.
empty intention. It is an act of consciousness that lies to the object, that is, it assumes it as a place to direct intentionality, without the object actually being there.
Experiences. They are all psychic phenomena that are part of the course of our consciousness. Within their classifications, we can distinguish between:
- Intentional experiences
  - Perceptions
  - Trials
  - acts of will
- Unintentional experiences
  - The stuff of perception
  - The matter of affectivity
  - The matter of the will
Noesis and noema. They describe two aspects of an act of conscience. While noesis consists of the act of giving meaning to the matter of intentional perception, noema is the result of that act of giving meaning, which ends up constructing an object transcendent to consciousness.
Gegebenheit. It refers to the given state of the thing. The Gegebenheit It is the donation (or dación) of the thing to conscience.

The phenomenological method

Starting in 1913 and with the publication of Ideas IHusserlian phenomenology took a transcendental turn that was based on the idea of “returning to things themselves,” as Husserl maintains. This meant the constitution of a method that would allow us to really get to the point without predetermining it in advance.

The phenomenological method consists of two general steps:

The first step is the epoché. The epoché is the suspension of the previous judgment. It implies suspending or bracketing the natural thesis of the world in order to go to the given of the thing.
The second step, which is characterized by its positive aspect, is that of phenomenological reduction. This is addressing the rest or residue that remains after having put the world in parentheses. While the first is a limitation, the second is a redirection.

What the method allows is to find a philosophical attitude sufficiently stripped of previous concepts to allow the phenomenon to show itself as it is in itself.

Representatives of phenomenology

Phenomenology is a relatively recent philosophical movement. However, it marked the 20th century as it was a current from which many renowned thinkers and philosophers emerged. Some of them are:

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938). He is the founding father of phenomenology, whose works are still discussed and investigated today. It is considered that he left more than forty-five thousand unpublished pages.
Martin Heidegger (1889-1976). He was a direct disciple of Husserl and, based on his criticism of his teacher, he developed an ontological theory in Being and time.
Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961). He was one of the first French-speaking readers of Husserl and Heidegger, and developed a phenomenology of the body published in Phenomenology of perception.
Emmanuel Levinas (1906-1995). He was one of the most important ethical figures of the 20th century. He introduced Husserl to France by publishing The phenomenological theory of intuition.
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980). He is considered the father of existentialism. After his stay in Berlin in 1933, he devoted himself to the study of the phenomenology of Husserl and Heidegger.
Jean-Luc Marion (1946-.) He is a French phenomenologist from the second half of the 20th century who revolutionized the field of phenomenology after translating the idea of Gegebenheit as a donation. He resignified the idea of phenomenon as a saturated phenomenon.

References

Husserl, E. (2013). Ideas relating to a pure phenomenology and a phenomenological philosophy. Book one: General introduction to pure phenomenology. Gaos, J. Zirión Q., A. (trans.) México: Fondo de Cultura Económica.
Heidegger, M. (2022). Being and time. University Publishing House of Chile.
Leyva, G. (2000). The birth of phenology, the logical investigations (1900-1901) of Edmund Husserl, 100 years after its publication. Philosophical signs(4), 11-25.
Merleau-Ponty, M. (1975). Phenomenology of perception. Barcelona: Peninsula.
Marion, J.L. (2008). Being given: Essay for a phenomenology of donation. Synthesis.
“Phenomenology” on Wikipedia.
“M. Merleau Ponty: Phenomenology” (video) in Educatina.
“Phenomenology” in Philosophica, online philosophical encyclopedia.
“Phenomenology” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosphy.
“Phenomenology” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.