Subjectivity and Lifeworld in Transcendental Phenomenology - Tapa dura

..".both insightful and admirable." --Notre Dame Philosophical Review

The purpose of the text is threefold: to contribute to the renaissance of Husserl interpretation around the continuing publication of Husserl's manuscripts and unpublished manuscripts; to account for the historical origins and influence of the phenomenological project by articulating Husserl's relationship to authors before and after him; and to argue for the viability of the phenomenological project as conceived by Husserl in his later years. In regard to the last purpose, Luft's main argument shows that Husserlian phenomenology is not exhausted in the Cartesian (early) perspective, which is indeed its weakest and most vulnerable perspective. Husserlian phenomenology is a robust and philosophically necessary perspective when taken from its hermeneutic (late) perspective. The key point Luft brings into focus is that Husserl's hermeneutic phenomenology is distinct from other hermeneutic philosophers, namely, Cassirer, Heidegger and Gadamer. Unlike them, Husserl's focus centers on the work the subject must do in order to uncover the prejudices that guide his/her unreflective relationship to the world. Luft also demonstrates that there is a deep consistency within Husserl's own writings-from early to late-around the guiding themes of: the natural attitude, the need and function of the epoch , and the split between egos, where the transcendental self (distinct from the natural self) is seen as the fundamental ability we all have to inquire into the genesis of our tradition-laden attitudes toward the world.