Husserl on the long term history of transcendantal idealims : the 1916-1920 lectures Introduction to Philosophy (Husserliana Materialen IX) (copie 2)

Reading sessions in the framework of LAI "Ideastrum: History and Prehistory of Idealism" (ULille/Sapienza, Roma). The first sessions will be held by Claudio Majolino (ULille). 

Edmund Husserl’s “Introduction to Philosophy” (Husserliana Materialien 9. Einleitung in die Philosophie) is a collection of lecture notes and lectures given by Husserl at the University of Freiburg between 1916 and1920. In these materials, Husserl intends to introduce his students to the idea of philosophy as a rigorous science in general and to transcendental phenomenology and transcendental phenomenological idealism in particular. This task, Husserl admits, is particularly daunting, since contemporary “beginners” (Anfänger) in philosophy are surrounded by the dominant trend of positivism, which reduces being to facts, knowledge to factual knowledge and fosters, willingly or unwillingly, latent forms of scepticism. But since there is no such a thing as a royal way (Königswege) to philosophy, a good introduction to philosophy cannot but begin with the following question: “how did we get here?”. This question invites the beginner to rediscover, from a mostly historical perspective, the motivations of philosophy, the constitution of its inner teleology from its very Pre-Socratic beginning to its Modern outcomes. A path that, so Husserl, mirrors the personal path that the beginner in philosophy himself is meant to follow. In these lectures, Husserl shows how in every historical epoch, the will to philosophy has experienced moments of awakening, optimism, weakening, new awakenings and strengthening and is now undergoing a further crisis. From Gorgias and Plato, to Descartes, Berkeley, Hume and Kant, up to Husserl himself, the history of philosophy is summoned as an example of the inner tension of philosophy as such and its unavoidable tendency towards idealism. The question “how did we get here?”, thus, progressively turns into another question, namely “why phenomenology?” and, ultimately, “why transcendental-phenomenological idealism?”. In these reading sessions — which are part of the activities carried out by the LAI project “Idealiter: on the Prehistory and History of Idealism” (Université de Lille/Università La Sapienza di Roma) — Husserl’s lectures will be presented, analysed and discussed for the first time.

In order to attend the session or for further informations, please write to:

idealiter[chez]univ-lille[point].fr