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

    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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