Table Of ContentDUQUESNE 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
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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
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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.
