Phenomenology, by comparison: from ethnographic variation to experiential structure
Michael Schnegg, Julian Sommerschuh
Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences June 18, 2026 DOI: 10.1007/s11097-026-10171-1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Keywords | Phenomenology philosophy Ethnography Experiential learning Embodied cognition Lived experience Variation astronomy Epistemology Interpretative phenomenological analysis Experiential knowledge Anthropology Participant observation |
| Key points | Proposes that combining Husserlian eidetic analysis with Formal Concept Analysis allows ethnographic material to be used in the search for invariant experiential structures without flattening meaningful differences, and demonstrates this through a comparative analysis of bodily emanations across diverse cultural contexts. |
Abstract
Abstract Both phenomenology and anthropology study lived experience, but they have traditionally done so in different ways. Phenomenology aims to identify universal structures of experience via the epoché, reduction and eidetic variation. Anthropology, by contrast, foregrounds cultural diversity as documented through ethnography. Ethnographic accounts provide thousands of cases of lived experience, far more varied than any single mind could generate through phenomenological imagination alone. To bring ethnographic material into the search for invariant experiential structures without flattening meaningful differences, we combine Husserlian eidetic analysis with tools from Formal Concept Analysis. We demonstrate the approach through a comparative analysis of bodily emanations, drawing on materials from diverse cultural contexts. These cases illuminate forms of bodily extension that remain under-theorised in dominant accounts of embodiment. Overall, the analysis shows how phenomenological comparison can yield empirically grounded and formally articulated insights into the embodied experiences of others.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychosis as a state of aberrant salience: a framework linking biology, phenomenology, and pharmacology in schizophrenia. | 2003 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From dopamine to salience to psychosis--linking biology, pharmacology and phenomenology of psychosis. | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How do the brain's time and space mediate consciousness and its different dimensions? Temporo-spatial theory of consciousness (TTC). | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The phenomenology of deep brain stimulation-induced changes in OCD: an enactive affordance-based model. | 2013 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Looking for the Self: Phenomenology, Neurophysiology and Philosophical Significance of Drug-induced Ego Dissolution | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- Phenomenological Approaches in Anthropology Annual Review of Anthropology September 27, 2010
- Investigating modes of being in the world: an introduction to Phenomenologically grounded qualitative research Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences February 16, 2021
- The Spiral of Attention, Arousal, and Release: A Comparative Phenomenology of Jhāna Meditation and Speaking in Tongues. American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council December 1, 2024
- Qualitative critical phenomenology Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences October 16, 2024
- Applied phenomenology: why it is safe to ignore the epoché Continental Philosophy Review April 9, 2019
and 2 more in the library