Mikhaylov I.A. Phenomenologists debating ontology and anthropology: a “failed conversation” (Husserl and Heidegger in 1920-30-s)

Abstract: The article deals with transformations that took place in the German phenomenology in the first decades of the XX Century and were stimulated by a discontinuity of the phenomenological idea of strict science and the growing popularity of anthropology and biology. The author focuses on the differences in Husserl’s and Heidegger’s phenomenological approaches and on the internal situation in the phenomenological community, which required thematic specialization of phenomenological research, commitment to a single theoretical paradigm and institutional reinforcement after Husserl’s retirement from Freiburg. The paper uses methods of historical and conceptual analysis along with an approach from the side of sociology of knowledge. It is shown that Husserl views anthropology in the light of his earlier relativism and psychologism critique. However, Husserl fails to distinguish between “anthropology”, “philosophy of life” and “existential philosophy” and does not find any new philosophical arguments against these new forms of philosophizing. The article also shows that Husserl and Heidegger are basing themselves on different understanding of what is "initial grounds” for the philosophical research: ontology, strict science, or the doctrine about humans.

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