The Other Husserl: The Horizons of Transcendental Phenomenology

"With provocations on every page, this book is a philosophical feast. The specialist will find familiar ingredients assembled here in a perspicuous and compelling way, while the nonspecialist will discover a Husserl whose philosophy is made of flesh and blood." --Journal of the History of Philosophy

In this thorough study of the full body of his writings, Donn Welton uncovers a Husserl very different from the established view. Arguing against established interpretations, The Other Husserl traces Husserl's move from static to genetic phenomenology and uses accounts of perception, discourse, subjectivity, and world to elaborate the scope of his systematic phenomenology. This serious reflection on the meaning of phenomenology is the first book in English to outline in full Husserl's phenomenological method and to argue for its cogency. Welton's stimulating interpretation highlights Husserl's relevance for current philosophical debates.

In this significant work, Edmund Husserl, the founder of 20th-century phenomenology, a highly influential theory of knowledge, receives a thorough and excellent analysis. Welton (SUNY, Stony Brook) surveys Husserl's published and unpublished complex writings in order to develop an alternative interpretation to the standard one promulgated by Husserl's critics and supporters. To accomplish this task, Welton undertakes to evaluate or reconstruct the phenomenological method as a whole. Although primarily very supportive, he also reviews some of the critiques or limits to the method. (Deeper criticisms could have been dealt with, though, especially from the analytic movement.) Husserl's relationship to Heidegger's Being and Time is also explored, and Cartesian and Kantian influences are discussed through Husserl's foundational philosophy. This technical study is an important contribution to phenomenology, to be read by specialists and perhaps by their students. Only those well versed in the field can determine whether Welton succeeds in offering a viable logical alternative to the standard Husserl, or if such a standard exists; this reviewer would have liked more concrete examples. Over 60 pages of notes and lengthy bibliography. Black and white photos. Recommended for Continental philosophy collections.M. P. Maller, Columbia College Chicago, Choice, December 2001

"In this significant work, Edmund Husserl, the founder of 20th-century phenomenology, a highly influential theory of knowledge, receives a thorough and excellent analysis....This technical study is an important contribution to phenomenology..." --Choice, December 2001 Indiana University Press Indiana University Press

With provocations on every page, this book is a philosophicalfeast. The specialist will find familiar ingredients assembled here in a perspicuousand compelling way, while the nonspecialist will discover a Husserl whose philosophyis made of flesh and blood. -- Journal of the History ofPhilosophy

In this thorough study of the full body of hiswritings, Donn Welton uncovers a Husserl very different from the established view.Arguing against established interpretations, The Other Husserl traces Husserl's movefrom static to genetic phenomenology and uses accounts of perception, discourse, subjectivity, and world to elaborate the scope of his systematic phenomenology. Thisserious reflection on the meaning of phenomenology is the first book in English tooutline in full Husserl's phenomenological method and to argue for its cogency.Welton's stimulating interpretation highlights Husserl's relevance for currentphilosophical debates.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 473-487) and index.

Donn Welton is Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is editor of The Essential Husserl: Basic Writings in Transcendental Phenomenology (Indiana University Press).

Preliminary Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviated Titles

Introduction: Thinking about Husserl

Part 1. Contours: The Emergence of Husserl's Systematic Phenomenology

1. The Phenomenological Turn

2. Descriptive Eidetics

3. Categorial Phenomenology and Ontology

4. The Transcendental in Transcendence

5. Cartesian Enclosures

6. Transcendental Disclosures

7. From Categorial to Constitutive Phenomenology

8. The Turn to Genetic Analysis

9. Genetic Phenomenology

Part 2. Critique: The Limits of Husserl's Phenomenological Method

10. Transcendental Psychologism

11. Transcendental Phenomenology and the Question of Its Legitimacy

12. Husserl and the Japanese

Part 3. Constructions: Toward a Phenomenological Theory of Contexts

13. World as Horizon

14. Horizon and Discourse

15. The Margins of the World

Appendix: The Standard Interpretation

Notes

Bibliography

Index