Phenomenology | Definition, Philosophy, Types, History

Phenomenology Definition

Phenomenology is the study of experience and how we experience. It studies structures of conscious experience as experienced from a first person point of view along with its intentionality. Heidegger pointed out that we are often not explicitly conscious of our habitual patterns of action.

Phenomenology is a broad discipline and the method of inquiry in philosophy. It has been largely developed by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. It is based on the premise that reality consists of objects and events (phenomena) as they are perceived in the human consciousness. It can be understood as a branch of metaphysics. It is more descriptive than prescriptive. Physical objects do not exist as things in themselves but only as perceptual phenomena. Experience includes not only relatively passive experiences of sensory perception but also imagination thought, emotion, desire, volition and action. In short, it includes everything we live through or perform.

History of Phenomenology

The term ‘phenomenology’ was first introduced by Johnson Heinrich Lambert (1728–1777). It was subsequently used by Immanuel Kant and J.G. Fichte and Hegel. Phenomenology as it is understood today is the vision of Edmund Husserl. He introduced the concept of intentionality which means that consciousness is always intentional or directed. Husserl formulated Realist Phenomenology and later Transcendental Phenomenology. Heidegger critised and enlarged Husserl’s phenomenological enquiry in his work Being and Time (1927). Later Sartre developed Existentialist phenomenology.

Originally Published https://www.eng-literature.com/2021/06/phenomenology-definition-philosophy-types-history.html