Phenomenology is fundamentally a descriptive method, not a theory
Evidence
So what exactly is phenomenology? It is essentially a method rather than a set of theories, and — at the risk of wildly oversimplifying — its basic approach can be conveyed through a two-word command: DESCRIBE PHENOMENA. … The first part of this is straightforward: a phenomenologist’s job is to describe. This is the activity that Husserl kept reminding his students to do. It meant stripping away distractions, habits, clichés of thought, presumptions and received ideas, in order to return our attention to what he called the ‘things themselves’. We must fix our beady gaze on them and capture them exactly as they appear, rather than as we think they are supposed to be. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 136
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines phenomenology as method (describe phenomena), orientationally essential for a newcomer to the movement.
- XREF: connects to: Early phenomenologists could practice the method without defining it — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 149; Phenomenology describes the feel of thought rather than its content — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 632; Phenomenology investigates direct experience of phenomena rather than questions of reality — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 11 (+6 more)
Broader Connections
- Early phenomenologists could practice the method without defining it
#corroborates(0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 149 - Phenomenology investigates direct experience of phenomena rather than questions of reality
#expands(0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 11 - Phenomenology rediscovers philosophy by describing lived things rather than questioning reality
#corroborates(0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 12 - Phenomenology studies lived experience rather than reality-versus-appearance puzzles
#corroborates(0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 11 - Phenomenology describes the feel of thought rather than its content
#expands(0.80) — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 632 - The being of phenomena is not a hidden noumenal world behind them
#expands(0.75) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 153 - Phenomenology treats all knowledge as contents and structures of consciousness
#qualifies(0.75) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 344 - Phenomenology becomes existentialist when applied to ordinary lived experiences.
#expands(0.75) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 24 - Theory is contested conjunctural knowledge, not will to truth
#responds-to(0.70)