Skip to content

Key Aspects of Analytical and Transcendental Phenomenology within the Framework of Modern Philosophy of Consciousness

D. Gasparyan

Russian Journal of Philosophical Sciences August 21, 2019 DOI: 10.30727/0235-1188-2019-62-5-97-123 (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 the analytical tradition diverges from Husserl's transcendental phenomenology by orienting itself toward cooperative dialogue with science and often adopting realistic and partly naturalistic positions, such as locating intentionality in brain activity and treating phenomenal consciousness as higher-order awareness. The author contends that these approaches constitute a phenomenology of non-transcendental origin.

Abstract

The article discusses the peculiarities and specific features of phenomenological approach developed in contemporary analytical philosophy. Despite the fact that the trust in phenomenological approaches continue to grow in analytical philosophy, it is necessary to recognize the presence of noticeable divergence between the classical transcendental phenomenology of E. Husserl and contemporary versions of phenomenology in analytical philosophy. The article examines some of these divergences. It is shown that, unlike the skepticism of transcendental phenomenology in relation to scientific methodology in the research of consciousness, the analytical tradition of phenomenology is oriented toward cooperative dialogue with science. Phenomenology in analytical philosophy places great hopes on the possibility of making consciousness a subject of joint research of neuroscientists and phenomenologists. The article claims that in the course of realization of this task, phenomenology in analytical tradition often starts to be interpreted from realistic and partly from naturalistic positions, and that does not meet the project of transcendental phenomenology. As an illustration of this idea, certain approaches of analytical phenomenology are considered, in particular: phenomena are interpreted from the point of view of logical and linguistic analysis, intentionality is connected with the activity of the brain and is located in the natural world, phenomenal consciousness is interpreted as the awareness of a high order, and the phenomena have a gradual nature and are often identified only with sensual experience, which implies a correlative correspondence of the substrate data of brain physiology. In that regard, there are reasons to interpret phenomenological theories that are funded by analytical tradition as an example of a specific phenomenology of non-transcendental origin.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on philosophy of mind, most cited first.

Explore topics