Concerning Phenomenology
Adolf Reinach
Reinach (1883–1917) was perhaps Edmund Husserl's first real co-worker in the development of the phenomenological movement. He came to Göttingen in 1905 to study with Husserl, and later joined him there as a teacher and co-editor of the Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung. Husserl said of him that “he was among the first who could understand, creatively and perfectly, the peculiar meaning of the phenomenological method and could view in its entire philosophical range.” On one occasion he even remarked that “It was really Reinach who introduced me to my Logische Untersuchungen, and in an excellent way.” Much later, Hedwig Conrad-Martius, another early student of Husserl's, stated that “Adolf Reinach was the phenomenologist among the phenomenologists:—the phenomenologist in itself and as such.” Although Husserl was clearly the originator and principal sustainer of the phenomenological movement, Reinach's clear and careful thought and statement makes him the best introduction to this line of thought. All of which must not be taken to mean that his views precisely coincide with the views of Husserl or any other phenomenologist.
The lecture, “Über Phänomenologie,” which is here translated into English, was read in Marburg during January of 1914. It was first published in Reinach's Gesammelten Schriften (Halle, 1921), and was later published separately under the title Was 1st Phänomenologie? (München, 1951). Translation and publication are by permission of the Reinach heirs and Kösel-Verlag, München. None of Reinach's other writings have been translated. In English, the best place to look for further details on Reinach's life and writings is Herbert Spiegelberg's The Phenomological Movement, 2nd., (The Hague: 1965), vol. I, ch. 4, especially pp. 195–205.
Search for more papers by this authorAdolf Reinach
Reinach (1883–1917) was perhaps Edmund Husserl's first real co-worker in the development of the phenomenological movement. He came to Göttingen in 1905 to study with Husserl, and later joined him there as a teacher and co-editor of the Jahrbuch für Philosophie und phänomenologische Forschung. Husserl said of him that “he was among the first who could understand, creatively and perfectly, the peculiar meaning of the phenomenological method and could view in its entire philosophical range.” On one occasion he even remarked that “It was really Reinach who introduced me to my Logische Untersuchungen, and in an excellent way.” Much later, Hedwig Conrad-Martius, another early student of Husserl's, stated that “Adolf Reinach was the phenomenologist among the phenomenologists:—the phenomenologist in itself and as such.” Although Husserl was clearly the originator and principal sustainer of the phenomenological movement, Reinach's clear and careful thought and statement makes him the best introduction to this line of thought. All of which must not be taken to mean that his views precisely coincide with the views of Husserl or any other phenomenologist.
The lecture, “Über Phänomenologie,” which is here translated into English, was read in Marburg during January of 1914. It was first published in Reinach's Gesammelten Schriften (Halle, 1921), and was later published separately under the title Was 1st Phänomenologie? (München, 1951). Translation and publication are by permission of the Reinach heirs and Kösel-Verlag, München. None of Reinach's other writings have been translated. In English, the best place to look for further details on Reinach's life and writings is Herbert Spiegelberg's The Phenomological Movement, 2nd., (The Hague: 1965), vol. I, ch. 4, especially pp. 195–205.
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