Phenomenology

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Roy Elveton (Carleton College)
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Phenomenology, a major tradition in twentieth-century philosophy, originated in the work of Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) and grew rapidly in importance. Early phenomenological circles were located at the universities of Göttingen, Munich and Freiburg. The work of Martin Heidegger, Max Scheler, Karl Jaspers, Eugen Fink, and Ludwig Landgrebe all expressed important agreement with many, if not all, of the central themes of Husserl’s thought. In France, Jean-Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Emmanuel Levinas extended the reach of the phenomenological movement to an increasingly international scale. After Husserl’s death in 1938, Martin Farber, Dorion Cairns and Herbert Spiegelberg, Husserl’s North American students, represented Husserl’s legacy in the United States. Later, the…

2169 words

Citation: Elveton, Roy. "Phenomenology". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=860, accessed 19 March 2024.]

860 Phenomenology 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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