John Steinbeck’s Log from the “Sea of Cortez”: One of Husserl’s Infinite Tasks?

Abstract

In this paper, I argue that in The Log from the “Sea of Cortez,” John Steinbeck often speaks in a distinctively phenomenological voice. To substantiate this claim, I consider a number of his philosophical observations, aligning them with passages in the Husserlian corpus to draw out their phenomenological character. More specifically, I focus on two significant themes: the role and perspective of the scientist and the simultaneously absolute and relative nature of truth. The project is useful in two ways. First, it reveals the heretofore overlooked phenomenological tenor of Steinbeck’s Log. And second, it brings new and helpful examples from Steinbeck’s work to bear on Husserl’s own work, which is often woefully frugal in the provision of examples.