Phenomenology

Definition and Description

Phenomenology is the study of subjective conscious experience. A concept originating in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit and driven forward by the philosophical works of Husserl, phenomenology studies consciousness from a subjective, first-person point of view. More of a way of thinking than a specific philosophical doctrine, phenomenology is primarily interested in investigating how the individual experiences events in the world, how the individual qualifies and articulates those experiences, and how they are then understood by other individuals. Phenomenology is primarily concerned with understanding and articulating what given subjective experiences are like, to gain some level of understanding about subjective experience and consciousness. Even with an awareness of another as an other with unique experiences, and even though one can have some understanding of ...