Transcendental Phenomenology: Philosophy and Methodology

Abstract

Transcendental phenomenology, as developed by Edmund Husserl, critiques dogmatic philosophizing and emphasizes the return to "things themselves." Husserl distinguishes phenomenology from empirical sciences by grounding cognition in intuitive presentations rather than sensory experiences. He introduces the notion of eidetic intuition, arguing that essences are directly grasped in intuition, not abstracted from individual instances. Phenomenology, as a rigorous science, aims to provide a foundational critique of sciences by elucidating the intentional structure of consciousness. It distinguishes between the natural attitude of empirical sciences and the phenomenological attitude, which involves a reflective analysis revealing the noesis-noema structure of experience.