Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy

Edmund Husserl, founder of the phenomenological movement in the first half of this century. The movement that was to shape the spirit of the era with its profound methodological influence. He was still young in his early forties when Wilhelm Dilthey introduced him to his wife in Berlin as the most important philosopher since Hegel, and the years that followed proved the depth of this introduction and elevated his initial insight to the level of vision. But Husserl's colleagues, who left no trace in history nor a name, had a different opinion. Husserl did not hold an official chair in philosophy at the University of Göttingen. He did not obtain one until the University of Freiburg invited him in his fifty-seventh year to take over – all at once – the Heinrich Rickert chair. Husserl filled this chair until his retirement at seventy, and he remained in Freiburg until his death on April 27, 1938, after being born in Prosstines on April 8, 1859, and studying mathematics and philosophy in Leipzig, Berlin, and Vienna from 1876 to 1882. He began his teaching career in 1887 at the University of Halle, where he spent 14 precious years, followed by another 15 years in Göttingen before Freiburg called him to be its philosopher, eager to preserve the honor of its prestigious university.