Phenomenology and Existentialism

Research record

Phenomenalism tries to understand experience in the form it appears in consciousness. Existentialism sharpens within this experience questions of freedom, choice, death, anxiety, futility, responsibility, and authentic life. The two traditions are not to be confused, but there is a deep dialogue between them in many twentieth-century thinkers. Husserl 's famous exhortation to return to the facts does not mean accepting ordinary experience without examination; rather, it means putting theoretical presuppositions into brackets and describing how experience manifests itself. Consciousness is always oriented towards something, this quality is called intentionality. Observe, remember, hope, and fear as the consciousness is oriented towards an object, event, or possibility. Scientific abstraction is important, but human experience is not the only scientific measure. I live first in the world, I walk the streets, I make connections, I use objects, I speak the language, then I describe the scientific. The idea of a world of life shows the importance of this prescient experience. Parallel philosophy sees here the philosophical significance of folk wisdom, language, and everyday experience without scientific criterion. It is insufficient to understand human existence from a different brain-body. I am already inside the world, the tools and relationships, the history and possibilities. Mortality and timeliness change the meaning of a person 's existence. But while acknowledging the philosophical importance of Heidegger, critical discussion of his political history cannot be suppressed. Ethical review is necessary even if the idea and life history are separate questions. Sartre 's famous idea that humans first come into existence and then make meaning out of their choices is read as a declaration of independence against predestined anthropocentrism. The excuse may be an attempt to escape one 's freedom through selfishness and immorality. But parallel philosophies question the freedom of speech. Hunger, caste, patriarchy, poverty, war, disability, imprisonment and state violence limit real possibilities. Later developments of the phenomenological tradition, particularly Merlo-Ponty, regard the body as a medium for experiencing the world and not just objects. I am not just a body. I am a physical being. Sickness, disability, gender, labour and place change the structure of experience. Body experience is important to the dignity-based ethics of Parallel Philosophy. Other people are not just objects of my experience. Its vision is one of desire and freedom. Love, conflict, shame, belief, and violence are all created by the presence of other self-consciousnesses. The question of social justice finds empirical depth here: humiliation is not merely a lack of resources; it is connected to how one is seen and perceived in the public world. A criticism of existentialism has been that it is sometimes overly personal. Parallel philosophy improves on this premise. The advice to choose is hollow when the person 's real options are closed. Freedom does not merely require the lifting of legal restrictions; it also requires education, food, health and safety, social respect, and a minimum level of political voice. Regional languages, migration, floods, agriculture, women 's domestic labour, caste practices, festivals, and folkloric memories make up the world of these experiences. To place this experience in philosophy is not to romanticize public life; it is to structure and describe pain, meaning, and the relationship of being. According to the basic axiom of phenomenology, consciousness is not an empty vessel; it is always oriented towards something, whether seen or remembered, feared or imagined. Objects are not found complete in consciousness at once; their meaning is formed by perception, memory, and possible further experience. Intellectualism is not necessarily a denial of the existence of external things. The question is first how the object manifests itself in experience. Parallel realism describes the structure of experience while holding that objects resist our expectations and allow for cross-examination.

Structured debate

Parallel conclusion

Phenomenalism explains the structure of experience; existentialism sharpens freedom and responsibility. Parallel philosophies accept the power of both, but do not see freedom as separate from social conditions. The individual chooses, but the electoral field is shaped unevenly by history and power.

Section index

1. 34.1 Return to the experience.
2. 34.2 The World of Life
3. 34.3 Heidegger: In the world - will be
4. 34.4 Sartre: Freedom and Responsibility
5. 34.5 The Body and the Experience
6. 34.6 The other person
7. 34.7 Existentialism and social justice
8. 34.8 Mithila - The Parallel Experience
9. 34.9 Intentionality: Consciousness is always the consciousness of something
10. 34.10 Categorization and description
11. 34.11 Heidegger: To be in the world
12. 34.12 Sartre: Liberty and Misandry
13. 34.13 The body and the penis and the other

Cite this record

Gajendra Thakur. “Phenomenology and Existentialism.” Videha Digital Research Archive: Mithila–Vajji–Anga. Videha — https://www.videha.co.in/ · ISSN 2229-547X · GitHub mirror: https://videha-ejournal.github.io/videha/ · Digital Research Archives on GitHub: https://github.com/videha-ejournal. https://videha-ejournal.github.io/mithila-vajji-anga/records/idea/philosophy-34/