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Philosophy & Science

Science & Phenomenology

Kalina Moskaluk tells us how an idea outside of her theoretical background destroyed her research project and her faith in ‘simple’ phenomenology.

What would come to mind if I asked you about phenomenology, the systematic study of human experience? If you know something about it, you might imagine its founding father, Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) meditating on his warm cup of fragrant black coffee. If you’re interested in psychology, maybe you’d think about ‘introspection’.

For an uninvolved observer, phenomenological investigation may look just like introspection, which it is often mistaken for. There are some similarities – the examiner and the person being examined are the same individual, and the experiment takes place inside the person’s mind. However, unlike introspection, phenomenology does not simply consist of an unbound stream of consciousness.

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