Edmund Husserl is the founder of what is known as "transcendental
phenomenology", which was for him an attempt at a scientific renewal of
philosophy. Husserlian phenomenology tries to describing the meaning that the
world has for us before all theoretical and speculative conceptions of it.
This is primarily achieved through phenomenological reduction which goes
"back to the things themselves" as Husserl's motto calls. The aim of
phenomenology is to thus render things as themselves and describe being as
being.
Applying Transcendental Phenomenology
Husserl was against philosophy's reliance on theories and terms that were
like "castles in the air". He was especially critical of psychologism. Phenomenological
reduction is aimed at clearing the fog and bringing philosophy back to the
ground of things themselves. Another central concept of transcendental
phenomenology is that of intentionality, which means that things that gain
meaning are always intended by our consciousness. An additional
fundamental concept is that of evidence or intuition, which is an extension of
the concept of perception and which refers to a more original truth than the
propositional one: this truth is that of what appears.
Transcendental phenomenology can be considered a radical form of
philosophical empiricism. However, it avoids the classic
distinction between empiricism and rationalism by making empirical
data a conscious activity.
Husserl's legacy
Husserl thought that his method should be a strict science in the sense or
relying only on given known things. He also thought that it should
progress as a collective project that unites many thinkers.
However later phenomenologists took different directions. Collective
aspirations aside, phenomenology progressed as philosophy usually does through
debate and dialectics. Husserl's theory of transcendental phenomenology
took various shifts and turns with following thinkers. These, Like Heidegger,
sought to make existence itself an intentional object of study, while others,
like Levinas, sought to go beyond experience towards realms like
infinity.
See also: Introduction to Husserl's Phenomenology