Abstract

Phenomenology became established as a wide philosophical movement in the 20th century, without ever becoming unified as a direction in contemporary philosophy. The article attempts to rethink the central motivation of phenomenological thinking, which is expressed as an appeal »to matters themselves«. The main focus in this is devoted to an ear for the utterance of matters themselves, which directs us to the phenomenon of speech that allows us to talk of phenomena. Herder’s reflection on the origin of language provides possible guidance in this connection, insofar as it adopts the articulation of phenomena.