An Appraisal of the Humean Foundation of Husserlian Phenomenology

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Date
2019
Authors
Owosho, S.A.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos
Abstract
One of the Fundamental goals of philosophy is to provide the best possible answers to human concerns in his quest for the highest values and to develop the unique broad-range capacities of human reason. Since the history of Western philosophy represented a series of abortive attempts to achieve this feat, Husserl was convinced that philosophy could achieve this goal if it adopts the method of Phenomenology. Husserl’s phenomenology grew out of the conscious attempt to avoid the logical absurdities that plagued Hume’s epistemology. It is against this background that this paper proposes to examine in details the affinity between Hume’s empiricism and Husserl’s phenomenology. It seeks not to assess the validity of Hume’s empiricism but rather to substantiate the conviction that, Husserl, in his pursuit of the project of transcendental phenomenology, followed Hume’s lead down into the depths of the concrete ego to find the ultimate origins of all objectivities and “worlds”. Husserl’s recognition of Descartes as discoverer of the transcendental sphere went side by side with a radical interpretation of Hume as the first practitioner of genuine transcendental philosophy. Hume’s philosophy is held to be a preparatory and cleansing stage through which philosophical thought must pass to come to its maturity and to arrive at transcendental phenomenology. Husserl disclosed that an essential task of his phenomenology is to grapple with the problem discovered by Hume, namely the “Humean Problem”.
Description
Scholarly Publication
Keywords
Philosophy , Phenomenology , Epistemology , Empiricism
Citation
Owosho S.A. (2019). An Appraisal of the Humean Foundation of Husserlian Phenomenology, The Nigerian Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 27, ISSN 0189-885X, Journal of The Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos, Lagos, 61-77