COMPASSION

Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man ceases to live thoughtlessly and begins to devote himself to his life
with reverence in order to give it true value.
— Albert Schweitzer

6/12/2010

Existential phenomenology


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Existential phenomenology is a philosophical current inspired by Martin Heidegger's 1927 work Sein und Zeit
(Being and Time) and influenced by the existential work of Søren Kierkegaard and the phenomenological
work of Edmund Husserl.


In contrast with his former mentor Husserl, Heidegger put ontology before epistemology
and thought that phenomenology would have to be based on an observation and analysis
of Dasein("being-there"), human being, investigating the fundamental ontology of the
Lebenswelt (Lifeworld - Husserl's term) underlying all so-called regional ontologies of the
special sciences. In contrast with the philosopher Kierkegaard, Heidegger wanted to
explore the problem of Dasein existentially (existenzial), rather than existentielly (existenziell)
because Heidegger argued Kierkegaard had already described the latter with "penetrating fashion".


Development of existential phenomenology

Besides Heidegger, other existential phenomenologists were Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas,
Gabriel Marcel, Jean-Paul Sartre, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Samuel Todes.

Other disciplines

Existential phenomenology extends also to other disciplines. For example, Leo Steinberg's
momentous essay "The Philosophical Brothel" describes Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignonin
a perspective which is existential-phenomenological.





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