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Philosophy vocabulary · Schools and Movements

Phenomenology

Meaning in philosophy, with examples

/fɪˌnɒmɪˈnɒlədʒi/nounCommon term

In philosophy, phenomenology means: A philosophical method and movement that studies the structures of experience as they appear to consciousness, from the first-person point of view.

In Turkish: fenomenoloji, görüngübilim

How it is used

Founded by Edmund Husserl and developed by Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and others. In analytic philosophy of mind, 'the phenomenology of an experience' simply means what the experience is like, which is a narrower sense.

Example sentences

  1. Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology puts the lived body at the center of perception.

  2. Husserl described phenomenology as a return 'to the things themselves'.

Common collocations

  • Husserlian phenomenology
  • phenomenology of perception
  • phenomenological method
  • existential phenomenology
  • existentialismA philosophical movement centered on individual existence, freedom and choice, holding that people create meaning through how they live rather than finding it ready-made.
  • intentionalityThe property of mental states of being about or directed at something, as a belief is about a fact or a desire is for an object.
  • continental philosophyA loose label for mainly French and German traditions since Kant and Hegel, including phenomenology, existentialism, hermeneutics, critical theory and post-structuralism.
  • consciousnessThe state of having experiences, of there being something it is like to see, feel or think; also the state of being awake and aware.

More terms: Schools and Movements

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