INTRODUCTION

Testament and to attend the philosophy lectures of Franz B rentano (1838 1917). The former ultimately led Husserl to convert to Christianity; he was baptized in the Evangelical Church of Vienna on 26 April 1886. The latter had a profound effect on his philosophical development. Although Husserl returned to Berlin after completing his degree in order to study again with Weierstrass during the summer of 1883, he soon returned to Vienna where he completed a year of voluntary military service and again studied philosophy with Brentano from 1884 to 1886. At B rentanos suggestion, Husserl then studied with B rentanos former student Carl Stumpf (18491936) at the university at Halle. In 1887, Husserl submitted his Habilitationsschrift titled ber den Begriff der Zahl. Psychologische Analysen (On the Concept of Number. Psychological Analyses). This work was decisive for Husserls c a re er insofar as it turned him from strictly m athem a tica l an a lyse s to philosophical analyses of the methods and foundations of mathematics, a turn that was later to b e exte nde d into philosophica l ana lyse s of logic a nd, ultimately, of all experience. After completing his Habilitation Husserl on 6 August 1887 married Malvine Charlotte Steinschneider, whom he knew from the Prossnitz Jewish community and who had herself converted to Christianity only a month before their marriage. Husserl also began teaching at Halle as a Privatdozent 1 in 1887, where he taught until 1901. During the years at Halle, he and Malvine had three children: Elisabeth, born on 29 April 1892; Gerhart, born on 22 December 1893; and Wolfgang, born on 18 October 1985. Husserls career did not advance greatly while at Halle, but the publication of the Logische U n t e rs u c h u n g e n in 1 9 0 0 1 9 0 1 le d to a n a p p o in tm e n t a s P r o fe ss o r Ex trao rd inarius 2 at G ttinge n in 1901. H e w as promote d to P rofe ssor Ordinarius in 1906, and he remained in Gttingen until 1916 when he was appointed to the chair vacated b y H einrich Rickert at the U niversity of Freiburg. He taught at Freiburg until his retirement in 1928. The last years at Gttingen and the early years at Freiburg coincided with World War I, and these were years of great personal tragedy for Husserl and his family. His younger son Wolfgang was seriously injured in battle on 20 February 1915, and, after recuperation, he returned to the battlefield only to be killed at the Battle of Verdun on 8 March 1916. His elder son Gerhart also suffered a severe head wound. Husserls letters reveal his dismay and sadness at the loss of life in the war and the serious injuries suffered by so many, not only his sons but friends, acquaintances and students. He was greatly affected, for example, by the death in 1917 of his student Adolf Reinach (18831917), of whom he thought most highly as a teacher and phenomenologist. And, as if the losses of war were insufficient, H usserls mother Julie died in July 1917.