The Phenomenological Meaning of Life in Husserl’s Thought

Abstract

The well-known contemporary philosopher, Edmund Husserl, relying on the intentionality of consciousness, introduced a new method of transcendental phenomenology in Western philosophy. According to this method, contrary to empiricists, truth is not rooted in sensory experiences of the physical world, nor arises from metaphysical elements, but is something that is subject to consciousness and is considered to belong to it. In this process, the physical world is suspended, and what remains is the deliberate and ideal knowledge and experience of the nature of things. Hence, the world as it appears on consciousness will be the standard of truth. In his view, the only way for philosophy to become a sound science and, consequently, to get rid of the crisis of the contemporary world and to achieve the desired life-world is to use the method of the transcendental phenomenology. Husserl did not address the question of the meaning of life directly, but portrayed a new perspective on the life-world. According to this new approach, which will be analyzed in the present study, living as it appears to us and having direct intuition of it, is a transcendental truth that on the basis of rationality can open a new horizon for us.

Keywords

• phenomenology
• intentionality
• crisis
• meaning of life
• husserl