This work is devoted to developing as well as expounding the theory of the cultural sciences of the philosopher Alfred Schutz (1899-1959). Drawing on all of Schutz's seven volumes in English, the book shows how his philosophical theory consists of the reflective clarifications of the disciplinary definitions, basic concepts, and distinctive methods of particular cultural sciences as well as their species and genus. The book first expounds Schutz's own theories of economics, jurisprudence, political science, sociology, and psychology. It then extends (...) his approach to other disciplines, offering new theories of archaeology, ethnology, and psychotherapy in his spirit in order to stimulate the development of Schutzian theories in these and other disciplines. The second part of the book contains complementary philosophical chapters devoted to culture, groups, ideal types, interdisciplinarity, meaning, relevance, social tension, and verification. (shrink)

This volume presents political phenomenology as a new specialty in western philosophical and political thought that is post-classical, post-Machiavellian, and post-behavioral. It draws on history and sets the agenda for future explorations of political issues. It discloses crossroads between ethics and politics and explores border-crossing issues. All the essays in this volume challenge existing ideas of politics significantly. As such they open new ways for further explorations BY future generations of phenomenologists and non-phenomenologists alike. Moreover, the comprehensive chronological bibliography is (...) unprecedented and provides not only an excellent picture of what phenomenologists have already done but also a guide for the future. (shrink)

Although Alfred Schutz' thought focused on the phenomenological founding of interpretive sociology, he also believed it relevant for other social and even historical sciences. His thought has been internationally appreciated in a wide range of human scientific disciplines. This collection of essays assesses Schutz' impact and potential beyond sociology and philosophy. It includes essays from a geographer and an economist and addresses topics such as communicology, computerization, politics, and literature, as well as psychology and sociology. The sixteen contributors to this (...) volume were asked to prepare essays that reviewed the impact of Schutz in their discipline, discussed the potential, and attempted novelly to actualize some of that potential. (shrink)

This book, a sequel to the author's well-received Luther in Context, illuminates Calvin's thought by placing it in the context of the theological and exegetical traditions - ancient, medieval, and contemporary - that formed it and contributed to its particular texture. Steinmetz addresses a range of issues almost as wide as the Reformation itself, including the knowledge of God, the problem of iconoclasm, the doctrines of justification and predestination, and the role of the state and the civil magistrate. Along the (...) way, Steinmetz also clarifies the substance of Calvin's quarrels with Lutherans, Catholics, Anabaptists, and assorted radicals from Ochino to Sozzini. An accessible yet authoritative general introduction to Calvin's thought, Calvin in Context engages a much wider range of primary sources than the standard introductions. It provides a context for understanding Calvin not from secondary literature about the later middle ages and Renaissance, but from the writings of Calvin's own contemporaries and the rich sources from which they drew. (shrink)

Timed for the centennial of Alfred Schutz (1899-1999), this set of original essays documents the continuing relevance of his thought in economics, geography, sociology, philosophy, and political science, and indicates the continuing interest in his thought in East Asia, Western Europe, and North America. The authors of these essays are leading authorities in their countries and disciplines. Schutz is the pre-eminent phenomenological philosopher of the social sciences. New materials from his Nachlaß concerning barriers to equality of opportunity, including a report (...) co-authored with the political scientist Harold Lasswell are also included. (shrink)

This essay has two parts. In the first, Husserl's account of categorial forming and Schutz's account of common-sense constructs are used to sketch an interpretationist theory of culture. In the second part, the question is raised of whether that theory is adequate to account for cultural phenomena and the negative answer is supported with a sketch of the pre-conceptual constitution of intrinsic and extrinsic values and uses in valuational and volitional processes of secondary passivity. This stratum below thinking and concepts (...) is called "basic culture" and the full appreciation of this stratum is a counter to naturalism as well as the starting point for approaching problematics such as ethnicity, gender, and the environment in the perspective of the constitutive phenomenology of culture. (shrink)

To explain the correct libertarian approach to immigration, a thought-experiment posits a minimal-state libertarian UK and then the introduction of several relevant anti-libertarian policies with their increasingly disastrous effects. It is argued that the reverse of these imagined policies, as far as is politically possible, must be the correct way forward. This framing is intended to counter the tendency for many articles to misapply libertarian principles to the current messy situation on the mistaken assumption that a state need only stop (...) interfering without rectifying or adjusting for its previous interferences. The relevant parts of various open-border texts are then criticised in light of this and for other errors, in particular for overlooking the likely huge scale of immigration as indicated by Gallup surveys. Additional criticisms are addressed in footnotes throughout. The conclusion outlines three broad options on immigration and suggests that directionally-libertarian policies are both more libertarian and practical than having states open their borders. The readers that might be interested in this subject matter include those engaging in libertarian philosophy, economics, and political theory. (shrink)

El reconocimiento de tendencias fenomenológicas en varias docenas de disciplinas fuera de la filosofía plantea la pregunta acerca del modo como puede de-finirse la fenomenología en general antes de la especificación según la disciplina particular. A continuación, tras un ensayo de respuesta a esta pregunta, se ofre-cerán algunas observaciones relativas a los posibles beneficios para la fenomeno-logía filosófica de los encuentros interdisciplinarios.Recognition of phenomenological tendencies in several dozen disciplines beyond philosophy raises the question of how phenomenology in general might be (...) defined prior to specification in terms of the agendas of the particular disciplines. After an attempt at an answer to this question, some observations concerning the possible benefits of interdisciplinary encounters, especially for philosophical philoso-phy, are offered. (shrink)

The essay reviews how phenomenological psychology can draw on Edmund Husserl's transcendental phenomenology in order to clarify the foundations of the cultural sciences and then explicates the theory of this psychology implicit in Schutz's oeuvre. Max Weber has shown that all phenomena of the socio-cultural world originate in social interaction and can be referred to it. According to him, it is the central task of sociology to understand the meaning which the actor bestows on his action. But what is action, (...) what is meaning, and how is the understanding of such meaning by a fellow-man possible, be he a partner of the social interaction, or merely an observer in everyday life, or a social scientist? I submit that any attempt to answer these questions leads immediately to questions with which Husserl was concerned and which he has to a certain extent solved. (shrink)

This essay examines sections relevant to libertarianism in Will Kymlicka’s Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction (2nd ed.), making and explaining the following criticisms. Kymlicka’s “preface” misconstrues political philosophy’s progress, purpose, and its relation to libertarianism. In his “introduction”, his “project” mistakes libertarianism as “right-wing”, justice as compromise among “existing theories”, and equality as the “ultimate value.” His “a note on method” in effect takes as axioms, beyond philosophical examination, various alleged desiderata and the necessary moral role of the state. Moreover, (...) his “ultimate test” being “our considered convictions” amounts to a conservative and illogical justificationism at odds with radical and coherent critical rationalism. Kymlicka’s chapter on “libertarianism” mistakes it as, inherently and unavoidably, free-marketist, anti-consequentialist, deontological, Nozickian, requiring “a foundational moral premiss, without objective content, unmaximisable, indistinguishable from license, equality-based, anti-anarchist, “self-defeating”, indefensibly “unfair”, impractically “philosophical”, and without influence. A different version of libertarianism easily withstands all Kymlicka’s antipathetic criticisms. (shrink)

Phenomenology as a tradition owes its name to Edmund Husserl, in his Logical Investigations (1900-1). It began as a bold new way of doing philosophy, an attempt to bring it back from abstract metaphysical speculation and empty logical calculation in order to come into contact with concrete living experience. As formulated by Husserl, Phenomenology is the investigation of the structures of consciousness that enable consciousness to refer to objects outside itself. It soon broadened into a world-wide and now century-old tradition. (...) Phenomenological versions of theology, sociology, psychology, psychiatry and literary criticism, have all been engendered, so that phenomenology remains one of the most important traditions of contemporary philosophy. Phenomenology is currently extending into new areas such as gender, ethnicity, multiculturalism, and ecology. An effort has been made in these four volumes to include representatives of all the major tendencies within phenomenology and to provide documentation of the critical discussion of its central topics. Forthcoming titles in this series include Pragmatism (2005, c.4 Volumes, c.£495), Free Will (2005, c.4 Volumes, c.£495) and Aesthetics (2005, c.4 Volumes, c.£495). (shrink)

In this article, the author takes a reflective look at the past, present and future of phenomenology in a kind of Presidential ‘state of the science’ approach. The Encyclopedia of Phenomenology acts as the authoritative positional backdrop for this ground-breaking paper. Embree isolates several recognizable ‘stages’ in the development of phenomenology, and ponders whether its current growth (and permutations) is not leading us into a new stage. If so, this has implications for the way phenomenologically oriented scholars and philosophers approach (...) their discipline. Indo-Pacific Journal of Phenomenology , Volume1, Edition 1 April 2001. (shrink)

This essay was written on the basis of what I call a ‘happy misunde rstanding’, which is already conspicuous in the first paragraph below. Most misunderstandings have negative consequences. But in this case I was delighted to learn that I was mistaken in believing that phenomenology was just getting going in South Africa, when actually there have been phenomenologists there since before World War II! Why I and my colleagues editing the Encyclopedia of Phenomenology were ignorant of this and failed (...) to include an entry on South Africa I am not yet able to explain, but I was at least able to apologise for this omission at the recent meeting. Beyond the firstclass quality of the presentations that I heard, the colleagues on the program were typically younger than I have seen in meetings of other groups recently and also a higher proportion were women, both factors auguring well for the future. I have not tried to hide my misunderstanding in the following essay and do hope to see two delegates at the meeting of the Organization of Phenomenological Organizations in Australia next year. (shrink)

This essay explores the roots of social constructionism in the work of Alfred Schutz, the teacher of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann and, beyond Schutz, Edmund Husserl. It is described how pregiven things are logically formed and then ideal types or constructs with content are also constituted about them. Schutz begins in the egological perspective but goes beyond that to the intersubjective perspective to show how the world of everyday life has constructs received from predecessors as well as contemporaries and (...) shared by in-groups. Common-sense constructs are constituted like cultural-scientific ones. Motivation in everyday life and the role of the ordinary vernacular in their transmission is shown. An analysis then focuses on how constructs have recently been received and/or reinforced by political election polling in the latest USA presidential election. These constructs involve results in percentages that can be understood qualitatively for Democrats and Republicans divided into gender groups, generations, races, regions, and by education, income or social class, religion. This account can be considered reflective, descriptive, and culture-appreciative and thus phenomenological. Similar constructing no doubt occurs in other industrialized countries and affects so-called common sense. Deeper understanding than this analysis reaches is called for at the end of this essay. (shrink)

Les phénoménologues se sont habituellement focalisés sur la perception lorsqu’il s’agissait de source de connaissance, mais qu’en est-il de la remémoration ? Qu'est-ce que la remémoration? Comment fonctionne-t-elle? Et peut-elle être également une source de connaissance ? On tente ici de répondre à cette question, avec l’aide de Dorion Cairns.

Cairns presents a plausible two-part, step by step, approach seemingly developed in Husserl’s “workshop” to transcendental phenomenology that is independent of culture and history, refines a concept of knowledge and its references to worldly things, encounters a difficulty, and resolves it through recognition of a non-worldly apodictic core of consciousness distinct from being in the real temporal, spatial, and causal world.

En el presente artículo analizo la lectura que hace Dorion Cairns, probablemente el más cercano de los seguidores de Husserl, del libro de Ideen y pondré de relieve las críticas que mi maestro le hizo a lo que Husserl había considerado una especie de manual de su filosofía fenomenológica. Lo que sigue es un resumen del seminario de 1964, dedicado a las Ideas. Siguiendo la estructura del libro, Cairns hace las siguientes observaciones: consideraciones sobre la comprensión adecuada del título del (...) libro, reflexiones de Cairns sobre la relación entre la fenomenología trascendental y la psicología empírica y la relación entre lo eidético y lo trascendental. En tercer lugar, abordaré lo que probablemente sea la mayor diferencia entre la fenomenología de Cairns y las Ideas de Husserl, esto es, la importancia de la “preconstitución”, un rico sustrato de los actos o acciones humanas, la cual desemboca en una critiqua de la noción de la intencionalidad presente en Ideas, como objetivadora. Cairns rechaza también la distinción hyle/ morphé y la sustituye por una más fundamental, la de sentir y sensa. También considera los aspectos fundamentales del tiempo. En cuanto a la tercera parte de Ideas, Cairns pone de relieve algunas dificultadaes a la hora de clasificar los actos. Otro aspecto de la lectura de Ideas es la insistencia en analizar los componentes subjetivos o irracionales en la teoría de la práxis, valores y conocimiento.In this paper I shall analyse Dorion Cairns´s, arguably Husserl´s closest follower, reading of the Ideen and I will emphasize criticisms that my teacher had of what Husserl considered a sort of manual for his phenomenological philosophy. What follows is a summary of the seminar from 1964, devoted to the Ideas. Following the structure of the book, Cairns points out the following remarks: concerns about the proper understanding of the very title of the work, Cairn´s consideration of the relation of transcendental phenomenology to empirical psychology and the relation of the eidetic and the transcendental. In the third place, probably the biggest difference between Cairn´s phenomenology and Husserl´s Ideas, that is, the importance of the “preconstitution”, a rich substratum of human act or actions. This emphasis amounts to the critique of intentionality in Ideen as objectivating. Cairns also rejects the hylē/morphē distinction and substitutes it by a more fundamental one of sensing and sensa. He also considers some fundamental aspects of time. As to the third part of the Ideas, Cairns points out some difficulties in classification of acts. Other aspect of Cairn’s reading of Ideen is the insistence on analysing the subjective or irrational components in the theory of praxis, values and knowledge. (shrink)

Introduction Dans ses Prolegomena zur reinen Logik ( Logische Untersuchungen, 1900), Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) offre une analyse et un exemple assez mémorables de ce qu’est une norme (pour ceux qui n’y sont pas familiers, la traduction française du passage le plus significatif est reproduite dans l’Appendice 1 de cet essai). Dire « un guerrier doit être courageux » revient à dire : « Un guerrier courageux est bon. » À l’évidence, ceci transforme une norme en jugement de valeur. Husserl exprime (...) cette équivalence directement, c’est-à-dire qu’il ne décrit ni n’analyse la manière dont les normes sont constituées et justifiées. Je n’ai pas répertorié d’analyse réfléchie sur ce sujet dans le reste de ses publications et, s’il existe semblable analyse dans son Nachlass , je n’en ai pas connaissance . Le présent compte rendu n’est, en aucun cas, une interprétation des textes de Husserl mais une brève tentative visant à élaborer une phénoménologie constitutive dans la manière du Husserl de la maturité. Dans la première section ci-dessous, je tente de développer l’exemple de Husserl de façon dynamique. Dans la deuxième, je prends un référent purement possible de ses propositions comme indice relatif aux composantes de la situation où se constituent des cas de ce type. Dans la troisième section, j’examine brièvement la manière dont les normes peuvent être justifiées. La conduite à adopter lors d’un. (shrink)

La cultura tiene muchas dimensiones, por ejemplo, la del género; pero, ¿qué pasa con la cultura de una nación tomándola como un todo? ¿Se puede uno aproximar fenomenológicamente a este tema? Usando una pequeña nación como ejemplo y utilizando una historia popular, yo debato aquí, en primer lugar, sobre cómo los objetos culturales concretos son diferentes de los objetos naturalistas una vez que estos se abstraen de todas las funciones o, mejor, usos que tienen. A continuación, describo Taiwan de modo (...) naturalista: geográficamente, geológicamente, ecológicamente, etc., y, después, antropológicamente, con respecto a cómo ha sido poblada. Dejando de lado la abstracción, lo siguiente es evocar aspectos culturales de esta isla para sus ciudadanos, en términos de religión, cultura alta, sistema social, economía y política. Estos aspectos ciertamente son diferentes para otras culturas nacionales, pero todas ellas tienen aspectos de este tipo y partiendo de este ejemplo uno podría ir más allá, a la cultura nacional en general. (shrink)

Although a key aspect of the phenomenological movement is its contribution to value theory and value perception, there has been relatively little attention paid to these themes. This volume in part makes up for this lacuna by being the first anthology on value-theory in the phenomenological movement. It indicates the scope of the issues by discussing, e.g., the distinctive acts of valuing, openness to value, the objectivity of values, the summation and combination of values, the deconstruction of values, the value (...) of absence, and the value of nature. It also contains discussions of most of the major representative figures not only in their own right but also in relationship to one another: Von Ehrenfels, Brentano, Scheler, Hartmann, Husserl, Heidegger, Schutz, and Derrida. (shrink)

Some clarification is attempted for concepts of what is often loosely called “phenomenological reduction” in general and its most important species for the cultural disciplines.