Epistemological Issues as Ontological Quandaries. Why Phenomenology Has the Edge over Analytic Philosophy
Stathis Livadas
Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology August 12, 2026 DOI: 10.5007/1808-1711.2026.e113979 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Philosophy of mind |
| Key points | Argues that phenomenology, in both Husserlian and Heideggerian forms, is better equipped than analytic philosophy to address epistemological and ontological questions raised by modern science, particularly foundational mathematics and quantum physics, due to its focus on the transcendence of the self. |
Abstract
In this article I will try to show how phenomenological philosophy may come to terms with the predominant epistemological paradigm of our time in ways that analytic philosophy cannot do, especially by focusing on certain disciplines of natural science, primarily foundational mathematics (permitting this classification) and quantum physics. I note that logic, mathematics and physics may be considered as fundamental sciences in the Husserlian sense of being rational and explanatory enterprises that help clarify the sense of being-in-the-world. In putting up my arguments in this respect I have considered both the Husserlian transcendental phenomenology as a key component of my argumentation but also in a kind of juxtaposition Heidegger’s existential version, even as Husserl denounced it upon the appearance of Sein und Zeit as a kind of ‘anthropology’, to the extent that they both have as an ultimate line of convergence the reduction to a sort of transcendence of the self irreducible to objectivist, mundane terms. In this approach I take up the task to show that phenomenology in a more inclusive global sense is better qualified to accede to the ideal of a rigorous science insofar as it can set up a more reliable theoretical philosophical context to interpret ontological issues raised by modern epistemology.
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| 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 |