Abstract
The aim of this paper is understand Husserl’s “Platonism” through an understanding of how the method of eidetic variation and a phenomenological conception of essences reformulates by means of a conceptual and historical translation Plato’s doctrine of essences. In arguing that a theory of essences and method for the discovery of essences proves indispensable to a proper conception of phenomenology, Husserl positions himself as a philosophical “friend of essences” without thereby adopting a Platonic conception of essences. In addition to a reconstruction of Husserl’s image of Plato and the historical tradition, this paper examines the pivotal role played by “variation” and “manifold” in Husserl’s distinctive understanding of essences.
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Notes
For complete references to Husserliana (Hua hereafter) and other primary Husserl materials, see the shared bibliography at the end of the introduction (Aldea & Jansen) to the special issue this paper is part of.
For Cassirer’s critique of Husserlian intuition, see de Warren 2015.
On this image of Descartes within German philosophy, see Schütt (1998).
For full references to the Husserliana Materialien, see the shared bibliography at the end of the introduction to the special issue this paper is part of (HuaMat hereafter).
For a more comprehensive account of Husserl’s image of Socrates, see De Santis 2019.
For full references to the Husserliana and Husserliana Materialien, see the shared bibliography at the end of the introduction to the special issue this paper is part of.
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For full references to the Husserliana and Husserliana Materialien, see the shared bibliography at the end of the introduction to the special issue this paper is part of.
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