Ontological and Methodological Principles of the Phenomenological Approach of Edmund Husserl

Abstract

Recognizing the validity of the many interpretations of Husserl’s phenomenology, author proposes and substantiates her own approach to Husserl’s philosophy, based on the works of K. Held, V. I. Molchanov, and L. Tengely. For this purpose, she formulates the ontological premises of Husserl’s philosophy, which determined his research, although they were not always clearly expressed by him. These premises include the recognition of the existence of the world as a collection of objects, their properties, and relationships. Furthermore, the author dwells on the principles and methods of phenomenological research. She takes into account not only and not so much Husserl’s own declaration of his principles, but also their specific application and implementation in the real phenomenological work. As a result, the “new” (not designated as such by Husserl himself) principles of the phenomenological approach are formulated and the “old” and well-known ones are rethought. The article focuses on the method of the epoché and the principle of operation in natural and phenomenological attitudes. The author considers identification of the premises of a natural attitude, some of which are transferred to a phenomenological one, to be one of the most important functions of epoché. In the article it is also demonstrated how Husserl’s ontological and methodological premises are applied in his works, devoted to study of consciousness, resolution of problems of the theory of knowledge and exploring the world around. In the course of these considerations, the author refers to the point in which Husserl departs from his principles and starts to follow another strategy, a constructivist one. This refers first of all to an understanding of intentionality, concepts of meaning and noema, and application of the method of the reduction. Finally, while evaluating her own strategy for studying Husserl’s philosophy, the author denotes her historical-philosophical approach as а presentist one.