Edmund Husserl: biography of this philosopher of phenomenology.

A summary of the life of Edmund Husserl, philosopher representative of transcendental phenomenology.

Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) is one of the most influential and outstanding figures of 20th century philosophy. His ideas still endure in the XXI century, and are still studied in universities.

This author was a German philosopher and logician, founder of transcendental phenomenology. In this article we will see a brief biography of Edmund Husserlwith the most important events of his life, and we will mention some of his works and contributions to philosophy.

Edmund Husserl: biography

Husserl's full name is: Edmund Gustav Albercht Gustav Husserl (let's refer to him, as Edmund Husserl). Husserl was a German philosopher and logician. He was born in Prossnitz (today Prostejov, present-day Czech Republic), in 1859, and died in Freiburg, Germany, in 1938.

As we shall see, Husserl was a disciple of Franz Brentano and Carl Stumpf. Edmund Husserl is considered the founder of transcendental phenomenology.. He also created, through this phenomenology, the phenomenological movement. This movement consists of a philosophical movement that is one of the most influential of the twentieth century.

Husserl worked as a teacher. In 1887 he was in Halle, and then in Göttingen (from 1906). Ten years later, in 1916, he became a full professor at the University of Freiburg. He worked there until his retirement (or rather, his retirement from teaching because of Nazism) in 1928.

Origin: beginnings

Edmund Husserl was born into a wealthy Jewish family on April 8, 1859 in the town of Prostějov, located in the Moravian region. At that time this region was part of the Austrian Empire; today, however, it belongs to the Czech Republic.

Edmund Husserl first studied mathematics, primarily at the universities of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878), with the thenat the universities of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878), mainly with the then famous professors Karl Weierstraß and Leopold Kronecker. In 1881 he went to Vienna to study under the supervision of Leo Königsberger (a former student of Weierstrass) and obtained his doctorate in 1883 with the work Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the Calculus of Variations).

Biography

Husserl He studied mathematics, astronomy, physics and philosophy in different universitiesVienna, Berlin and Leipzig. Specifically, he began studying mathematics at the University of Leipzig (1876) and Berlin (1878).

A little later, in 1881, Husserl went to Vienna for work. There he worked under the supervision of Leo Leo Königsberger, a German mathematician. It was in Vienna that he obtained his doctorate, in 1883, with his work originally entitled Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the Calculus of Variations).

It was a year later, in 1884, that Edmund Husserl received lectures from the sociologist Franz Brentano was taught by the sociologist Franz Brentanoin courses on psychology and philosophy held in Vienna. Brentano greatly influenced Husserl's philosophical formation and his decision to pursue philosophy. Edmund Husserl studied with Brentano for a short time; later he went to the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg.

There he was with Carl Stumpf (a former disciple of Brentano). It was then that Husserl wrote his work Über den Begriff der Zahl (On the Concept of Number)in 1887. This work served as the basis for another, much more important work (in fact, his first important work): "Philosophie der Arithmetik (Philosophy of Arithmetic), of 1891.

After several years devoted to teaching, as we have already mentioned, Edmund Husserl was removed from teaching due to the arrival of Nazism.

Contributions

The first texts of Edmund Husserl are dated 1891; we find a work of that year entitled Philosophy of Arithmeticin which he analyzes the origin and use of arithmetic. analyzes the origin and use of numerical symbols.. That is, he relates mathematics with philosophy.

Soon Edmund Husserl begins to write about philosophy (philosophical texts). He begins with them in 1900 and 1901, with "Logical Investigations". With this text Husserl intended to determine an epistemological basis for philosophy; that is, he wanted philosophy to be considered as a science.. To defend this idea, Husserl relied on a method that he himself called "phenomenological".

Work

Edmund Husserl's work is extensive.. His complete works are in original manuscripts, consisting of more than 45,000 pages. They can be seen at the Institute of Philosophy of the Catholic University of Louvain, under the name "Husserl Archives".

Scholars from all over the world come to see them. They are mostly people who study (or are interested in) phenomenology. In addition, many of his works continue to be published and republished. Moreover, they have been translated into many languages.

Titles of their works

Some of Husserl's most outstanding works are (in chronological order): "Philosophy of Arithmetic" (1891); "Logical Investigations" (1900); "Ideas Concerning a Pure Phenomenology and a Phenomenological Philosophy" (1913); "Cartesian Meditations" (1931); "The Crisis of the European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy" (1936) and "Experience and Judgment" (1939).

Transcendental Phenomenology

Edmund Husserl is considered the founder of transcendental phenomenology. Transcendental phenomenology aims at "renewing" philosophy, seeking its connection with science (1936).seeking its connection with science (or its possibility of becoming one of them).

It is a way of understanding philosophy, of describing the meaning of the world. It is based on a specific method, the phenomenological method.Husserl's transcendental phenomenology, which describes phenomena as they appear in consciousness, then accesses the field of consciousness and submits it to an intentional analysis.

Husserl's transcendental phenomenology is a philosophical current that has influenced other authors and other outstanding figures in the intellectual field, such as Ortega y Gasset, Heidegger and Scheler.

Death and legacy

Edmund Husserl died on April 27, 1938, in Freiburg, Germany.. He was 79 years old. He had previously been ill with pleuritis, a disease consisting of inflammation of the pleura, usually caused by pneumonia.

Husserl spent the last months of his life dedicated to the revision and analysis of his texts. In addition, he continued to lecture (in Prague and Vienna).

Husserl's legacy lives on in the field of psychology and philosophy. His contributions to the field of phenomenology continue to be of notable scholarly interest. In addition, his work was transferred to Louvain (Belgium), as we have seen, where it can be consulted. Fortunately, the Nazis were not able to destroy it.

Bibliographical references:

• Gadamer, Hans-Georg. (2016). El movimiento fenomenológico. Editorial Síntesis: Madrid.
• García-Baró, M. (1997). Husserl (1859-1938). Madrid, Ediciones del Orto.
• Herrera, D. (2010). Husserl and the lifeworld. Franciscanum, 52(153): 247-274.
• Husserl, E. (1997). Ideas concerning a pure phenomenology and a phenomenological philosophy. Book one (translated by José Gaos), FCE, Mexico.
• Mohanty, J.N. (1964). Edmund Husserl's Theory of Meaning, Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague.