Abstract

The growing discussion of phenomenology's relevance for political and social thought must inevitably come to grips with the problem of history. David Carr's recent work can ultimately be considered as a continuation of the effort begun by Husserl in the Crisis of the European Sciences to span the chasm between philosophy and the world of experience. Given the schematic nature of Husserl's later works, his account of history here certainly requires elucidation and development before it can be judged useful. While Carr provides a good account of the genesis and problems of Husserl's approach to history, the final positive evaluation rests not on the potential importance of Husserl's thinking, but on the picayune point that it is philosophically impossible to refute Husserl's alleged “partial historicism.”