Ideas: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology

Ideas is the first, and probably the clearest, introduction that Husserl gave of phenomenology. In it he provides a rather sweeping vision of his creation as a new science which would serve as the foundation for all knowledge. Essentially, Husserl thought that one could turn to what is present in the ego, the phenomena gained from conscious experience, and derive a philosophical account of both how the mind naturally works as well as how external phenomena appear to it. In all of this he’s clear that he doesn’t believe that the phenomena are necessarily accurate descriptions of the world. Instead, they’re merely how the mind naturally encounters it: the eponymous ideas are no realer than the ideal triangles and right angles of geometry. Husserl then saw the twentieth century as the era which would develop this science of the mind and its objects. He would certainly be disappointed to find that phenomenology is now only another school of philosophy. But while it may seem easy to mock the hubris of a man who thought he was regrounding all human knowledge, it’s fair to point out that the power of the mind to understand the universe continues to be a mystery. As far as I know, there is no comprehensive account of how one branch of the hominid family evolved a distinctive brain that enables it to penetrate into the secrets of galaxies formed billions of years ago. Perhaps then there is more of a place for phenomenology than it might seem at first. At least, it continues to be an alternative to a scientism that leaves many underlying assumptions unexamined. For those who are interested in reading contemporary phenomenologists, Ideas is arguably the best source to introduce this line of thought. If you do have such inclinations, highly recommended.

HUSSERL, PONTY, AND BEAUFRET: THE THREE GIANTS OF POST-MODERN ERA: Edmund Husserl is considered the father of phenomenology, and also as a major contributor to the substrate of post- modern philosophy. Without a doubt, his thought in “Ideas” is profoundly evident as the structure for much of Heidegger’s, Ponty’s, and Beaufret’s thought. Therefore, any student of post-modern thought will find this manuscript absolutely essential to read and assimilate. Assimilating the material may take some doing. Husserl is difficult; but not impossible. He is just extremely detailed, and you must carefully track his concepts and their use. Husserl tells us that the study of “Being” cannot begin until after the pure-experience work of describing “modalities-of-being”. Then the self may transition to the study of “being”. To assist the reader, I will give you the “4” modalities of his procedure. Keep these in mind as you read: 1. the “primordial-modality” of “epoche” (suspension of conceptualization); 2. The remembrance-modality of the “noetic”; 3. The imaginative-modality of the “eidetic”; and 4. The signifying-modality of the “doxic”. The self must work “descriptively” through the first three modalities, and then work through a transformation in the fourth modality of the “doxic”. The doxa-modality asks the self to work through “recollection and subtracting” in order to arrive at the “proto-doxa” that have been present all along. These “proto-doxa” consist of the core-noema resulting from the on-going interrogation of the self from an existential stand-point. Through a process of negating the modality-content in previous moments, the self can arrive at the pure doxa content. The noematic-object passes through negation of modality-content to become pure-noema-character. And this character”, in turn is copied as a doxa-sign by consciousness. The self “stands-in” to consider the relational aspects of this new modified domain in order to form the ideological structure. Like I said; it is there, and understandable, but requires slow and careful reading. I consider this manuscript “mandatory” for anyone studying post-modern thought, but Husserl is certainly not limited to just that interest. 5 stars and “good luck”

I had a serious thirst for understanding Husserl, Heidegger's historical influence, and I'm extremely glad I have this chance to understand the unique and foundational perspective he contributed to 20th century philosophy and human self-understanding. One gets the impression from the debate that existed that there was a foundational difference, but reading this book has made it clear to me that Husserl was only disappointed in Heidegger because he viewed his "anthropological" dissertation as a distraction from his own unique psychological attitude and perspective. Husserl's "idealist" point of view is not only important for its own value, but for the light it shines on topics like dualism, empiricism, Descartes, Kant, and the history of modern philosophy.

Interesting read, although I found I had to read it in small doses. It was a lot to digest. However, I fully recommend to anyone who is writing a phenomenology or just plain interested in making sense of human experience.

very nice edition of this book. helpful intro by moran. funny that the translator's intro, preserved from the original 1931 edition, so much praises and thanks his proofreader. this edition appears to be a scan of that original publication which was not thoroughly proofread (or even spellchecked!) for scanning errors before being converted to the new publication. they didn't even correct the page number references in husserl's footnotes (when he refers to earlier sections) to this repaginated edition! understandable - who has time to read such a book now? precisely why (and other reasons) it should be read now.

Edmund Husserl's classic is a must read for everyone interested in Mind in Life, phenomenology and/or modern philosophy. The translation by Boyce Gibson is very good and very readable. The inclusion of the original German terminology does help a lot to distinguish between intentions that are hard to translate into English.

The texture of the cover is a new type to me, very sturdy and good grip. The text is exactly that of 1913 English edition.

Just fabulous! Thanks for the care that went into sending the book. It was evident. Jim

A person trying to explain to the readers what he wants to build as a subject. Lays down the groundwork. IMO, Not for people unfamiliar with phenomelological/philosophical terms.

Highly recommend - not for the faint of heart. I believe this is the English conversion of the original German transcript so some concepts are harder to conceptualize or understand given the translation. Or at least that was my experience. Great book for anyone wanting to deep dive into phenomenology.

Great condition and should prove useful in my studies.

An interesting investigation into the realm of being.

As a student researching phenomonology, it has given me Husserel's understanding and reseasons for this great qualitative approach.