Synopses & Reviews
When future historians chronicle the twentieth century, they will see phenomenology as one of the preeminent social and ethical philosophies of its age. The phenomenological movement not only produced systematic reflection on common moral concerns such as distinguishing right from wrong and explaining the status of values; it also called on philosophy to renew European societies facing crisis, an aim that inspired thinkers in interwar Europe as well as later communist bloc dissidents.
Despite this legacy, phenomenology continues to be largely discounted as esoteric and solipsistic, the last gasp of a Cartesian dream to base knowledge on the isolated rational mind. Intellectual histories tend to cite Husserl's epistemological influence on philosophies like existentialism and deconstruction without considering his social or ethical imprint. And while a few recent scholars have begun to note phenomenology's wider ethical resonance, especially in French social thought, its image as stubbornly academic continues to hold sway. The Far Reaches challenges that image by tracing the first history of phenomenological ethics and social thought in Central Europe, from its founders Franz Brentano and Edmund Husserl through its reception in East Central Europe by dissident thinkers such as Jan Patocka, Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), and Václav Havel.
Review
"Michael Gubser's scintillating accomplishment both recaptures the geographical breadth of the phenomenological tradition over the twentieth century and brings out how many of its members emphasized its ethical contributions. Reviving the lost vocation for social renewal among the Central European founders of phenomenology, The Far Reaches then turns to how East European dissidents drew heavily on their legacy. By restoring morality to phenomenology, and phenomenology to East European politics, Gubser has rewritten the intellectual history of the twentieth century."Samuel Moyn, Columbia University
Review
"Husserl was a terrible writer. Michael Gubser is not. He guides us very capably through some of the most complex thinkers and difficult texts. Phenomenology, he shows us, is not just the name for an esoteric philosophical movement detached from life. On the contrary, phenomenology focused precisely on the connection between the human subject and the world. From its origins in late-imperial, German-speaking Central Europe to its later forms in communist Czechoslovakia and Poland, phenomenology was always about ethicsand social renewal in a time of crisis."Marci Shore, Yale University
Review
"Michael Gubser's profoundly interesting, important, and rich work on phenomenology, its Catholic and Central European traditions, and its ethical and social legacy, offers a stunning confrontation between the twentieth century and one of its most famous philosophical systems. Like few other works before it, it simply reboots the field."Stefanos Geroulanos, New York University
Synopsis
This book traces the history of phenomenological ethics and social thought in Central Europe from its founders Franz Brentano and Edmund Husserl through its reception in East Central Europe by dissident thinkers such as Jan Patocka, Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), and Václav Havel.
About the Author
Michael Gubser is Associate Professor of History at James Madison University.