Edmund Husserl's phenomenological psychology;: A historico-critical study PDF
Preview Edmund Husserl's phenomenological psychology;: A historico-critical study
DUQUESNE STUDIES Psychological Series 4 Edmund RusserI's PhenolTIenologi cal Psychology A Historico-Critical Study Joseph J. Kockelmans, Ph.D. DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY PRESS Pittsburgh, Pa. Editions E. Nauwelaerts, Louvain Edmund Husserl's Phenomenological Psychology A Historico-Critical Study DUQUESNE STUDIES Psychological Series Adrian van Kaam, Ph.D., and Edward Hogan, Ph.D., editors Volume One-Stephen Strasser, PHENOMENOLOGY AND THE HUMAN SCIENCES. A Contribution to a New Scientific I deal. XIII and 339 pages. Price: $6.00. Volume Two-Aron Gurwitsch, THE FIELD OF CONSCIOUS NESS. XIV and 427 pages. Price: $7.95. Volume Three-Adrian van Kaam, EXISTENTIAL FOUN DATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGY. XIV and 386 pages. $7.95. This work was translated from the Du tch by Bernd Jager and Revised by the Author. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 67-27995 © 1967, by Duquesne University PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY KINGSPORT PRESS, INC., KINGSPORT, TENNESSEE PREFACE Edmund Husserl first spoke publicly about a new phenomenological psychology some forty years ago. He con ceived this new psychology as a discipline destined to play an important role in the already established empirical psychology as well as in philosophy. The influence of Husserl's ideas was responsible for the extensive phenomenological psychological movement which subsequently took hold in many countries. A careful analysis of this phenomenological movement as it developed makes one quickly aware of the presence of a number of clearly distinguishable currents, all in fact claiming Husserl as their origin. However one soon realizes that only a few psychologists employ Husserl's concepts without major modifi cations. What is typical in this picture is that many psychologists talk about phenomenology without offering any real clarifica tion of the meaning of the term they are using, and furthermore where phenomenological literature is concerned, there is also frequently a lack of clear-cut distinction between Husserl's thought and that of other phenomenologists such as Scheler, Heidegger, Sartre, Jaspers, Merleau-Ponty and others. There is, however, a basis for understanding this confusion which exists; what has happened is that in psychology, as well as in sociology and anthropology, the different trends of thought have developed without clearly formulated philosophi cal premises. One must take into account here also the fact that it has been virtually impossible for most authors to see phe nomenological problems in their historical perspective because until just recently Husserl's thought was open to only the privileged few who had access to his manuscripts. Any knowl- 6 Phenomenological Psychology edge concerning his thought, which perforce came through via secondary sources then, was characterized by considerable divergence on a number of points. These, certainly, are some of the important factors which give rise to difficulties when one considers the question of what must be understood by phenom enological psychology. It seems obvious that a reasonable solution to the problem will not be found by constructing some sort of largest common denominator comprising all the existing phenomenologies, and using it as a point of departure for the description of phenomenological psychology. Instead, what suggests itself as the way to a meaningful formulation is a careful historical investigation of the essential differences underlying the various phenomenologies toward the end of finding a firm basis from which to operate while attempting to determine the essential characteristics of phenomenological psychology. For tunately it is now possible to make a start on the important historico-critical task which remains to be undertaken; thanks to the indefatigable efforts of the scholars of the Husserl Archives, there is access today to the complete text of Husserl's last work and to all of his other important contributions to phenomenological psychology from 1920 to 1930. The specific task to which I address myself in this book is that of presenting a historico-critical appraisal of Hussert's own development as far as phenomenological psychology is con cerned. Toward this aim I have allowed myself to be guided by the following questions: how did Husser! arrive at his views regarding phenomenological psychology? What task did he envision for this new discipline? What are its essential aspects? How does this psychology relate to empirical psychology on the one hand, and to philosophy on the other? Only after these questions have been answered will it be possible to appraise Husserl in the light of recent developments; only then will one be able to see the perspectives his thought has opened up for present day psychology and to comprehend the true pattern of his thinking. It must be stated at the outset that this book does not pretend to solve all questions related to Husserl's view on psychology. Preface 7 It is my hope, however, that the study will make at least a sub stantial contribution toward the elucidation of some of the more persistent problems of phenomenological psychology. CONTENTS Preface 5 List of Abbreviations 13 Introduction 17 I Short Survey of the History of Psychology up to the Twentieth Century 27 Introduction 27 The Genesis of Psychology from Philosophy 28 Naturalism and Psychology 28 The Philosophical Origin of Psychology 30 The New Psychology 32 Bacon's Contri bution 33 Descartes 36 The Empiricism of Locke and Hume.-The Psychology of Mill and Spencer 43 Locke 43 Hume 45 John Stuart Mill and Henry Spencer 50 Psychology Becomes an Independent Science.-Herbart and Wundt 53 Physiological Psychology 59 Ziehen and Ebbinghaus 60 Husserl's Teachers 64 Franz Brentano 65 Carl Stumpf 71 The Psychology of William James 73 Dilthey and the 'Naturalistic Psychology' 77 II Toward a Phenomenological Psychology 87 Phenomenology as a Descriptive Psychology 87 Phenomenology as 'Critique of Reason' 97 10 Phenomenological Psychology Philosophy as Strict Science 104 Phenomenological Psychology as it Appears In the 'Ideen' 122 Husserl's Later Vision of his Own Development Between the Years 1887 and 1913 126 III Epistemological Considerations.-Phenomenological Psychology as 'Regional Ontology' 138 Dilthey's Importance for Psychology 138 The Necessity of a Reduction which Leads from the Scien tific World to the World of Original Experience 143 The Method of Free Variation 154 General Ontology of the World of our Immediate Experi ence Toward a Preliminary Description of the Subject Matter of Psychology 161 Phenomenological Psychology as 'Regional Ontology' 177 IV Analysis of an Act of Perception in Order to Explain the Essen tial Characteristics of Reflection and the Very Essence of the Psychical 185 Preliminary Description of Reflection 185 Systematic Analysis of an Act of Perception 190 The Transcendental Problem 208 Analysis of Perception insofar as it Relates to the Perceiver Himself 222 V Phenomenological Psychology.-Its Relations to Empirical Psy- chology and Transcendental Philosophy 232 The Encyclopaedia Britannica Article and the 'Amsterdamer Vortage' 232 Pure Phenomenology.--Subject, Method, and Function 235 Phenomenological and Empirical Psychology 247 Phenomenological Psychology and the Transcendental Prob lem 249 VI Phenomenological Psychology in 'Krisis' 264 The Meaning of Husserl's Last Work 264 Contents 11 Description of the Life-World 274 The Psychologico-Phenomenological Reduction in 'Krisis' 288 VII Summary, Evaluation, and Conclusion 302 Basic Issues in Husserl's Phenomenological Psychology 302 Husserl's Phenomenological Philosophy in the Light of Contemporary Criticism 314 Phenomenological Psychology and Existential Phenomenol ogy 332 Conclusion 343 Bibliography 352 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS References to HusserI's publications are all to the German edition of his works as indicated below. The list also includes all the English translations that are known to me. However, in view of the fact that the most important texts of Husserl that are dealt with in this book were not yet available in translation references have not been made to these translations even where that would have been possible. Phil. d. Arithm. Ph ilosophie der Arithmetik. Psychologische und logische Untersuchungen. Erster Band. (Halle a.S.: C.E.M. Pfeffer, 1891). L. U. Logische Untersuchungen, 3 vol. (Halle a.S.: Max Niemeyer, 1921-1922). Die Idee Die Idee der Phiinomenologie. Funf Vorlesungen (1907) . Herausgegeben und eingeleitet von Walter Biemel. (Husserliana, Band II). (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1950). The Idea of Phenomenology. Trans. William P. Alston and George Nakhnikian. (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1964). Phil. str. W. "Philosophie als strenge Wissenschaft", in Logos, 1 (1910-1911) 289-341. "Philosophy as Rigorous Science", in Quentin Lauer, Edmund Huserl: Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy. (New York: Harper and Row, 1965), pp. 69-147. See also: Cross Currents, 6 (1956), pp. 228-246, 324-344. Ideen Ideen zu einer reinen Phiinomenologie und phiinomenologischen Philosophie.
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