METHODS OF

PHILOSOPHIZING: THE
PHENOMENOLOGICAL
METHOD
WEEK 4
OUTLINE

I. ENGAGEMENT
II. OBJECTIVES
III. PHENOMENOLOGY
1. INTRODUCTION
2. DESCARTES
3. HUSSERLIAN PHENOMENOLOGY
A. NATURAL ATTITUDE & PHENOMENOLOGICAL ATTITUDE
IV. REFLECTION FROM VIDEO
I. ENGAGEMENT

PROVE TO ME THAT THIS PEN EXISTS!

II. OBJECTIVES

B1. DISTINGUISH OPINION FROM TRUTH.

B2. ANALYZE THE SITUATION THAT SHOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
OPINION AND TRUTH.
B3. REALIZE THE METHODS OF PHILOSOPHY THAT LEAD TO WISDOM AND
TRUTH.
B4. EVALUATE OPINION
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: INTRODUCTION

PHENOMENOLOGY COMES FROM THE TWO GREEK

WORDS PHAINOMENON, WHICH MEANS
“APPEARANCE,” AND LOGOS, WHICH MEANS “REASON”
OR “STUDY.” HENCE, ETYMOLOGICALLY SPEAKING,
PHENOMENOLOGY MEANS “STUDY OF PHENOMENON.”
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: INTRODUCTION
THE TERM PHENOMENON MEANS ANYTHING
THAT EXISTS OF WHICH THE MIND IS CONSCIOUS.
A “BOOK” IS A CONCRETE EXAMPLE OF A
PHENOMENON. A BOOK IS THERE EXISTING
MATERIALLY, AND THE MIND IS CONSCIOUS OF IT.
HOWEVER, PHENOMENOLOGY IS FORMALLY
DEFINED AS THE INVESTIGATION OF THE
ESSENCE OR THE NATURE OF MATERIAL THINGS
OR THINGS THAT APPEAR TO US.
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: DESCARTES

WHY WAS PHENOMENOLOGY FORMED?

PHENOMENOLOGY WAS ORIGINALLY A FORM OF
CRITIQUE ON THE CARTESIAN METHODIC DOUBT. AS
WE KNOW, RENE DESCARTES, THE ACCLAIMED FATHER
OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY, INITIATED THE
PHILOSOPHICAL REVOLUTION IN MODERNITY BY
OFFERING A METHOD OF PHILOSOPHIZING THAT SEEKS
TO GROUND KNOWLEDGE ON THE MOST UNIVERSAL AND
SELF-EVIDENT TRUTH: “THAT I EXIST AND THAT THE I
THAT EXISTS IS ESSENTIALLY A THINKING I ―
THE COGITO.”
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: DESCARTES
THIS IS A VARIATION OF THE FAMOUS CARTESIAN
DICTUM: COGITO ERGO SUM (I THINK; THEREFORE, I AM). THE IDEA
HERE IS THAT DESCARTES EMPLOYED THE METHODIC DOUBT IN
HIS SEARCH FOR CERTAINTY BY SYSTEMATICALLY DOUBTING
EVERYTHING AT FIRST. BUT IN THE PROCESS OF DOUBTING
EVERYTHING, THERE IS ONE THING THAT DESCARTES CANNOT
DOUBT, THAT HE IS DOUBTING. NOW, IF HE IS DOUBTING, THEN HE
MUST BE THINKING. THEREFORE, IF HE IS THINKING, THEN HE
MUST BE EXISTING BECAUSE THE ACT OF THINKING PRESUPPOSES
THE EXISTENCE OF THE ONE THAT THINKS. THUS, WITH THE
DISCOVERY OF THE SELF, OF THE I THAT THINKS, DESCARTES
CONCLUDED THAT CERTAINTY CAN BE ATTAINED.
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: DESCARTES
UNLIKE DESCARTES WHO SYSTEMATICALLY DOUBTED
THE CERTITUDE OF THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF THE SELF
(EGO) AS HIS STARTING POINT IN ATTAINING CERTAINTY,
EDMUND HUSSERL AFFIRMED THE EXISTENCE OF A
WORLD OUTSIDE OF THE SELF. AND FOR HUSSERL (THE
FORERUNNER OF MODERN PHENOMENOLOGY), THE
THINKING I IS ALWAYS CONSCIOUS OF THIS WORLD. IT IS
FOR THIS REASON THAT HUSSERL ACCUSES DESCARTES
OF FAILING TO PROPERLY UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF
“CONSCIOUSNESS,” WHICH IS ALWAYS A
CONSCIOUSNESS OF SOMETHING OTHER THAN ITSELF.
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: HUSSERLIAN

A. NATURAL ATTITUDE
B. PHENOMENOLOGICAL ATTITUDE
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: HUSSERLIAN
PHENOMENOLOGY
A. NATURAL ATTITUDE

FROM A PHENOMENOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE, IN EVERYDAY LIFE, WE SEE THE

OBJECTS OF OUR EXPERIENCE SUCH AS PHYSICAL OBJECTS, OTHER PEOPLE, AND
EVEN IDEAS AS SIMPLY REAL AND STRAIGHTFORWARDLY EXISTENT. IN OTHER
WORDS, THEY ARE “JUST THERE.” WE DON’T QUESTION THEIR EXISTENCE; WE
VIEW THEM AS FACTS.
WHEN WE LEAVE OUR HOUSE IN THE MORNING, WE TAKE THE OBJECTS WE SEE
AROUND US AS SIMPLY REAL, FACTUAL THINGS—THIS TREE, NEIGHBORING
BUILDINGS, CARS, ETCETERA. THIS ATTITUDE OR PERSPECTIVE, WHICH IS USUALLY
UNRECOGNIZED AS A PERSPECTIVE, EDMUND HUSSERL TERMS THE “NATURAL
ATTITUDE” OR THE “NATURAL THEORETICAL ATTITUDE.”
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: HUSSERLIAN

WHEN HUSSERL USES THE WORD “NATURAL” TO DESCRIBE THIS ATTITUDE, HE

DOESN’T MEAN THAT IT IS “GOOD” (OR BAD), HE MEANS SIMPLY THAT THIS
WAY OF SEEING REFLECTS AN “EVERYDAY” OR “ORDINARY” WAY OF BEING-IN-
THE-WORLD. WHEN I SEE THE WORLD WITHIN THIS NATURAL ATTITUDE, I AM
SOLELY AWARE OF WHAT IS FACTUALLY PRESENT TO ME. MY SURROUNDING
WORLD, VIEWED NATURALLY, IS THE FAMILIAR WORLD, THE DOMAIN OF MY
EVERYDAY LIFE. WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: HUSSERLIAN
PHENOMENOLOGY
A. PHENOMENOLOGICAL ATTITUDE
THIS BRACKETING IS CALLED THE EPOCHÉ AND IS A METHOD BY
WHICH TO STUDY THE WORLD FREE FROM BIAS.  IN THE
PHENOMENOLOGICAL ATTITUDE, ONE OBSERVES A SITUATION IN
WHICH ONE IS ENGAGED WHILE WITHHOLDING ANY JUDGMENT
ABOUT IT BEING GOOD, BAD, ETC.   ONE REDUCES THE LIVED
WORLD DOWN TO ITS “ESSENCE,” STRIPPING AWAY THE QUICK
PRESUMPTIONS AND BIASES, PERMITTING ONE TO STUDY THIS
BARE WORLD PERFECTLY FREE TO QUESTION EVERYTHING—
EVEN THOSE THINGS ASSUMED BY OTHER FIELDS TO BE
UNQUESTIONABLE, LIKE THE LAWS OF SCIENCE, RULES OF
RELIGION, OR BASIC, ‘EVERYDAY’ FACTS (OWNER, HISTORY),
ETC.  
III. PHENOMENOLOGY: HUSSERLIAN
PHENOMENOLOGY
A. PHENOMENOLOGICAL ATTITUDE
THIS “REDUCTION” IS CALLED THE EPOCHÉ; IT IS A
“PARENTHESIZING,” WHEREIN WE DO NOT DESTROY THE OTHER
WAYS BY WHICH TO VIEW THE WORLD, BUT WE PUT THEM IN
PARENTHESES AND DO NOT CONSIDER THEM IN THIS PRACTICE. 
THESE OTHER PERSPECTIVES ARE NOT IN THEMSELVES WRONG,
NOR CAN THEY CORRECTLY BE ENTIRELY LEFT OUT OF
KNOWLEDGE. INSTEAD, THEIR TEMPORARY PHENOMENOLOGICAL
SUSPENSION REVEALS THE NATURE OF MEANING TO BE MORE
COMPLEX AND DYNAMIC THAN THEY CAN CAPTURE AND HOW
EACH OF THESE LIMITED PERSPECTIVES MUST BE
ACKNOWLEDGED AS ONLY SINGLE MODES AMONG MANY BY
WHICH TO EXPERIENCE AND DESCRIBE THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL
MEANING OF THE WORLD.   
REFLECTION:

WATCH THE VIDEO:

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=1RWOPQ
XTLTA
REFLECTION:

GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. HOW DID I FEEL UPON SEEING THE VIDEO? WHAT ARE THE THINGS WHICH
TOUCHED MY MIND WHILE WATCHING THE VIDEO?
2. CONNECTING PHENOMENOLOGICAL ATTITUDE AND THE MESSAGE OF THE
VIDEO, HOW CAN I APPLY THE MESSAGE OF PHENOMENOLOGICAL
ATTITUDE GET TO SEE MY LIFE WHILE I WITHHOLD JUDGMENT OF
EVERYTHING THAT’S HAPPENING IN MY LIFE?
SHARING