Early Phenomenology: Metaphysics, Ethics, and the Philosophy of Religion

(Hardback)

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Taking the term phenomenologist in a fairly broad sense, Early Phenomenology focuses on those early exponents of the intellectual discipline, such as Buber, Ortega and Scheler rather than those thinkers that would later eclipse them; indeed the volume precisely means to bring into question what it means to be a phenomenologist, a category that becomes increasingly more fluid the more we distance ourselves from the gravitational pull of philosophical giants Husserl and Heidegger. In focusing on early phenomenology this volume seeks to examine the movement before orthodoxies solidified. More than merely adding to the story of phenomenology by looking closer at thinkers without the same fame as Husserl or Heidegger and the representatives of their legacy, the essays relate to one of the earlier thinkers with figures that are either more contemporary or more widely read, or both. Beyond merely filling in the historical record and reviving names, the chapters of this book will also give contemporary readers reasons to take these figures seriously as phenomenologists, radically reordering of our understanding of the lineage of this major philosophical movement.

Reviews

Though the early years of the phenomenological movement represent a veritable treasure trove of philosophical insight, the thinkers of this period are almost always overlooked by both philosophers and historians alike, in part due to an inability to see past the imposing legacies of Husserl and Heidegger. This volume offers a long overdue introduction to philosophers whose work remains of fundamental relevance to those seeking to understand the potential of phenomenology for philosophy. * James Dodd, Associate Professor of Philosophy, The New School, USA *
The editors should be praised for having the contributors to this volume organize their essays so that they lay out at the beginning how they are going to proceed and that they always end with some concluding remarks about what has been accomplished. This adds a coherence to the intent to provoke further research and conversation beyond what could be accomplished by simply assembling authors responses to a proposed topic. * Reading Religion *

Author Bio

Brian Harding is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Texas Womans University, USA. Michael R. Kelly is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of San Diego, USA. He is the editor of Bergson and Phenomenology (2010).