Husserl and the Idea of Europe

448 Pages·2020·1.602 MB·English

by  Timo Miettinen

The Idea of Europe
in Husserl’s Phenomenology
A Study in Generativity
and Historicity

To my father Martti and my mother Sirpa
Filosofisia tutkimuksia Helsingin yliopistosta
Filosofiska Studier från Helsingfors universitet
Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki
Theoretical Philosophy
Social and Moral Philosophy
PL 24
00014 Helsingin yliopisto
Editors:
Panu Raatikainen
Bernt Österman
Tuija Takala
Timo Miettinen
TheIdea

of Europe
in Husserl’s
Phenomenology
A Study in Generativity
and Historicity
e
Philosophical Studies from the University of Helsinki 36

“Die Philosophie ist eigentlich Heimweh
– Trieb überall zu Hause zu seyn.”
“Philosophy is really homesickness
– the desire to be everywhere at home.”
Novalis: Das allgemeine Brouilloun.
Materialien zur Enzyklopädistik 1798/99, 857
© Timo Miettinen

ISBN 978-952-10-8598-7 (Paperback)
ISBN 978-952-10-8599-4 (PDF)
ISSN 1458-8331
Layout by Pertti Koskinen
Printed in Finland at Multiprint OY, Helsinki 2013
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ...................................................... 11
Abstract ...................................................................... 17
Introduction ............................................................... 19
1. Phenomenology and the Crisis of European Modernity 51
1.1. On the Crisis of the Modern Body Politic ..................... 62
1.2. The Concept of Crisis in the Modern Philosophy of History 81
1.3. The Idea of Crisis in the Early Twentieth-Century Debate:
Finitude and Relativity ................................................. 99
1.4. The Idea of European Crisis in Husserl’s Late Works ......... 125
2. Generativity and Transcendental Phenomenology ....... 153
2.1. Genesis and the Life of the Subject ............................... 159
2.2. Transcendental Social Ontology: Beyond Interaction ......... 184
2.3. Empathy and Lifeworld ............................................ 203
2.4. Personalities of a Higher Order: A Phenomenology of
Community and Culture ............................................... 216
3. Husserl on the Origin of Europe: Philosophy in its New
Mode of Generativity and Historicity ........................ 233
3.1. The Question of Origin: Teleology and Universalism ........ 238
3.2. On the Generative Origins of Theory:
Territoriality and Reason ............................................... 254
3.3. The Community of Theory and the Idea of Rational Culture 266
3.4. Philosophy and Political Universalism:
Politics of the Best Possible ............................................. 292
4. Teleology, Historicity, Communality:
Phenomenology and Universalism ............................ 317
4.1. Teleology and Liberation:
Phenomenology of Presuppositions ................................... 324
4.2. Absolute and Relative Ideals:
A Phenomenology of Progress ......................................... 333
4.3. Infinite Teleology and the Utopian Motive ...................... 355
4.4. Rethinking Universalism on the Basis of Husserlian
Phenomenology: Liebesgemeinschaft and Generativity ............... 382
Conclusion .................................................................. 413
Bibliography ................................................................ 425