Cartesian Moses

According to Dermot Moran’s account ( Introduction to Phenomenology ), Husserl’s phenomenology was an effort to arrest “cultural fragmentation and relativism, brought about by deep uncertainties about the nature and project of reason in the twentieth century. Husserl saw himself as a visionary pioneer, approaching his themes with an almost religious fervour, even comparing himself to a Moses leading his people to the promised land.”

To secure knowledge, he followed Descartes’ lead. Husserl concluded that “consciousness is the basis of all experience and its mode of appearing seemed to be inextricably linked to the nature of time itself. Indeed, no experience would be possible without time consciousness; it enters into every experience.” At the same time, “out of this living flux of consciousness come the ‘achievements’ ( Leistungen ) of ideal, timeless meanings, the graspings of transcendent objects and truths.” Because consciousness is always the consciousness of someone in particular, the philosopher can only investigate this process of “meaning-origination” by beginning with his own consciousness. Like Descartes, Husserl began “with the rigorous self-examination” that he described as “the standpoint of ‘transcendental solipsism.’” This was not the end of philosophy, but Husserl thought it the necessary beginning, which would enable him to lead European civilization out of Egypt.