Philosophy's Nature: Husserl's Phenomenology, Natural Science, and Metaphysics: Husserl's Phenomenology, Natural Science, and Metaphysics (Routledge Research in Phenomenology)

This book offers a systematic interpretation of the relation between natural science and metaphysics in Husserl’s phenomenology. It shows that Husserl’s account of scientific knowledge is a radical alternative to established methods and frameworks in contemporary philosophy of science. The author’s interpretation of Husserl’s philosophy offers a critical reconstruction of the historical context from which his phenomenological approach developed, as well as new interpretations of key Husserlian concepts such as metaphysics, idealization, life-world, objectivism, crisis of the sciences, and historicity. The development of Husserl’s philosophical project is marked by the tension between natural science and transcendental phenomenology. While natural science provides a paradigmatic case of the way in which transcendental phenomenology, ontology, empirical science, and metaphysics can be articulated, it has also been the object of philosophical misunderstandings that have determined the current cultural and philosophical crisis. This book demonstrates the ways in which Husserl shows that our conceptions of philosophy and of nature are inseparable. __Philosophy’s Nature__ will appeal to scholars and advanced students who are interested in Husserl and the relations between phenomenology, natural science, and metaphysics. This book offers a systematic interpretation of the relation between natural science and metaphysics in Husserl’s phenomenology. It shows that Husserl’s account of scientific knowledge is a radical alternative to established methods and frameworks in contemporary philosophy of science. The author’s interpretation of Husserl’s philosophy offers a critical reconstruction of the historical context from which his phenomenological approach developed, as well as new interpretations of key Husserlian concepts such as metaphysics, idealization, life-world, objectivism, crisis of the sciences, and historicity. The development of Husserl’s philosophical project is marked by the tension between natural science and transcendental phenomenology. While natural science provides a paradigmatic case of the way in which transcendental phenomenology, ontology, empirical science, and metaphysics can be articulated, it has also been the object of philosophical misunderstandings that have determined the current cultural and philosophical crisis. This book demonstrates the way in which Husserl shows that our conceptions of philosophy and of nature are inseparable. Philosophy’s Nature will appeal to scholars and advanced students who are interested in Husserl and the relations between phenomenology, natural science, and metaphysics. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 List of abbreviations 13 Introduction and Plan of the Work 14 Plan of the Work 19 Chapter One: The Relation Between Physical Theory and Reality: Historical and Conceptual Material 19 Chapter Two: Husserl’s Conception of Natural Science Between the Theory of Knowledge and Metaphysics 20 Chapter Three: Transcendental Consciousness and Nature 20 Chapter Four: The Transcendental Constitution of Material Nature 21 Chapter Five: Life-World, Natural Science, and the Crisis of Philosophy 22 1 The Relation Between Physical Theory and Reality: Historical and Conceptual Material 24 §1. The Problem of the Object of Physical Theory at the Time of the Decline of the Classical Mechanistic Worldview 24 §2. The Problem of the Limits of Physical Knowledge: Du Bois-Reymond 26 §3. Ernst Mach’s Phenomenalism and the Elimination of the Limits of Physical Knowledge 30 §4. Hermann Von Helmholtz, Critical Realism, and the Shifting Limits of Physical Knowledge 34 §5. Summary and Conclusion 38 2 Husserl’s Conception of Natural Science Between the Theory of Knowledge and Metaphysics 49 §1. Husserl’s Early Interest in Metaphysics: The Example of the Metaphysics of Space 49 §2. The Problem of Knowledge as the Determining Factor of the Conception of Reality 54 §3. Natural Science’s Ontological Inadequacy and Metaphysics as the Ultimate Science of Reality Completing It 59 §4. Natural Science and Metaphysics in the Logical Investigations 64 §5. The Metaphysical Closure of the Empirical Sciences in the Years of Husserl’s Transcendental Turn and an Indication of the Investigations Necessary for It 71 §6. Regional Ontology 78 §7. Transition to Transcendental Phenomenology: The Ontology of Nature as Explication of the General Formal Sense of What Is Posited by the Natural Attitude 84 §8. Transcendental Phenomenology and the Theory of Knowledge 86 §9. Transcendental Phenomenology and Metaphysics as the Ultimate Science of Reality 93 §10. Summary and Conclusion 98 3 Transcendental Consciousness and Nature 110 §1. The Centrality of the Thing of Perception in the Delimitation of the Region of Pure Consciousness 110 §2. Husserl’s Critique of Naïve Realism and of the Traditional Formulation of the Primary/Secondary Quality Distinction 114 §3. The Target of Husserl’s Critique: The Wrong Sense of Transcendence Underlying Critical Realism 119 §4. Husserl’s Solution to the “Two Things Problem” 123 §5. The Mythical Causal Depth of Reality 128 §6. Hypotheses About Nature’s Sensuous Determinations and Hypotheses About Nature’s Intrinsic Categorial Determinations 131 §7. Criticism of the Interpretations Based on Contemporary Philosophy of Science 137 §8. Transcendental Phenomenology and Existence Claims 151 §9. Summary and Conclusion 154 4 The Transcendental Constitution of Material Nature 164 §1. Transition to the Stepwise Constitution of Material Nature in Ideas II 164 §2. The Thing and the Aesthetic Leib: From the Thing of Perception to the “Empty X” 167 §3. The “Empty X” and the Objective Space as the Form of All Possible Things 172 §4. Physical Theory as the Ultimate Objectivation of Material Nature 177 §5. The Relation Between Husserl’s Conception of Material Nature in Ideas I and Ideas II and the Krisis 181 §6. The Problem of the Transcendental Status of Husserl’s Constitutive Analysis in Ideas II: A Response to Ingarden’s Critiques 187 §7. Transcendental Phenomenology and the Debate on the Relation Between Science of Nature and Metaphysics 197 §8. Transcendental Phenomenology and the Challenge of the “New Physics” 202 §9. Summary and Conclusion 207 5 Life-World, Natural Science, and the Crisis of Philosophy 216 §1. The Crisis of European Sciences as the Repercussion on Their Scientificity of the Crisis of Philosophy 216 §2. The Crisis of Philosophy and the Forgetfulness of the World of Spirit 220 §3. The Idea of Philosophy and the Origin of the Mathematical Science of Nature 228 §4. The Background of Galileo’s Mathematization of Nature: The New Scientific Ideal 232 §5. Pure Geometry (Krisis §9a) 236 §6. The Mathematization of Sensible “Plena” (Krisis §§9b–9e) 241 §7. Technization and Emptying of Sense (Krisis §§9f–9g) 247 §8. The Life-World as the Forgotten Meaning-Fundament of Natural Science (Krisis §9h) 254 §9. First Consequences of Galileo’s Misunderstandings (Krisis §9i) 261 §10. The Significance and Nature of the Considerations About the Origin of Mathematical Physics (Krisis §§9k–9l) 263 §11. Further Criticism of the Interpretations Deriving From the Philosophy of Science 268 §12. The Life-World and the Relations Between the Naturalistic, Personalistic, and Transcendental Attitudes 270 §13. The Problem of the Relation Between the Scientifically True World and the Life-World 277 §14. Solution to the Problem: The Teleological Inclusion of the Scientifically True World in the Life-World 283 §15. Nature in Itself as a Correlate of the Infinite Historicity of the Absolute Spirit 286 §16. The Life-World and the Crisis of Philosophy as the Universal Science of Being Culminating in Metaphysics 290 §17. Summary and Conclusion 297 Conclusion 313 Index 321 "This book offers a systematic interpretation of the relation between natural science and metaphysics in Husserl's phenomenology. It shows that Husserl's account of scientific knowledge is a radical alternative to established methods and frameworks in contemporary philosophy of science. The author's interpretation of Husserl's philosophy offers a critical reconstruction of the historical context from which his phenomenological approach developed, as well as new interpretations of key Husserlian concepts such as metaphysics, idealization, life-world, objectivism, crisis of the sciences, and historicity. The development of Husserl's philosophical project is marked by the tension between natural science and transcendental phenomenology. While natural science provides a paradigmatic case of the way in which transcendental phenomenology, ontology, empirical science, and metaphysics can be articulated, it has also been the object of philosophical misunderstandings that have determined the current cultural and philosophical crisis. This book demonstrates the ways in which Husserl shows that our conceptions of philosophy and of nature are inseparable. Philosophy's Nature will appeal to scholars and advanced students who are interested in Husserl and the relations between phenomenology, natural science, and metaphysics"-- Provided by publisher