Title

Husserl's Concept of the Vorwelt and the Possible Annihilation of the World

Authors

Authors

M. Bower

Comments

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Abbreviated Journal Title

Res. Phenomenol.

Keywords

pre-world; Edmund Husserl; phenomenology; genetic phenomenology; intentionality; Philosophy

Abstract

In this paper I explore a curious phenomenon discussed in Husserl's later manuscripts under the name "pre-world?." This notion arises in the context of his ongoing development of a genetic phenomenology, i.e., a phenomenology that is concerned with the dynamics of conscious life, concerning both the generation of new meaning for consciousness and new dimensions of conscious life. The pre-world is one such dimension. I explore it here in two stages. First, I consider the initial unsavoriness of the very idea of a pre-world, whose metaphysical implications are suspect, on the surface. Nevertheless, I show that the pre-world puts the subject in contact with reality in a very special sense that should remedy this worry. Second, I show how the notion of the pre-world re-opens Husserl's thought of the possible annihilation of the world from Ideas I. In fact, it explains the possibility, by revealing its experiential ground.

Journal Title

Research in Phenomenology

Volume

45

Issue/Number

1

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Document Type

Article

Language

English

First Page

108

Last Page

126

WOS Identifier

WOS:000353667800005

ISSN

0085-5553

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