Phenomenology and Existentialism: Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre

Husserl: Back to the Things Themselves

Edmund Husserl (1859–1938) founded phenomenology—a philosophical method that requires describing experience as it appears to consciousness, prior to any theoretical assumptions. The slogan: "Back to the things themselves" (Zu den Sachen selbst).

Method: epoché (phenomenological reduction)—to "bracket" the natural attitude (the belief in the existence of the external world) and study pure consciousness and how objects are constituted in it. Consciousness is always intentional—it is always directed at something: I see a tree, think about mathematics, fear loss. There is no "empty" consciousness.

Heidegger: Being and Time

Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) is the most influential philosopher of the 20th century (and the most difficult). "Being and Time" (1927) poses the question that, in his view, Western philosophy since Plato has missed: what does it mean to be?

His key concept is Dasein ("being-there," human existence). Dasein is always already "thrown" into the world—into a particular historical, cultural, linguistic situation, which it did not choose. Dasein is always already with others. And Dasein is always being-toward-death: the awareness of finitude makes life authentic.

Authenticity vs inauthenticity: Most people live in the mode of "das Man"—"they," "everyone": doing what everyone does, saying what everyone says. This is an escape from responsibility for one's own existence. Authenticity means taking responsibility for one’s "thrown" existence, choosing oneself.

Sartre: Existence Precedes Essence

Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) is existentialism in its most famous manifestation. The well-known formula: "Existence precedes essence." For a knife, the essence (purpose) is set before its existence—in the mind of the craftsman. But for a human, there is no predetermined essence. We first exist, and then create ourselves through choices.

Hence: a person is "condemned to be free." There is no God, no nature, no destiny—only choices. And every choice is a responsibility. When I choose, I choose for all humanity—as in Kant’s categorical imperative.

Bad faith (mauvaise foi)—an attempt to evade freedom, to pretend that I have no choice. "I must do this"—but who obligated me? "That’s my character"—but character is also chosen. Sartre describes a waiter who plays the role of a waiter so perfectly that he loses himself as a person.

Simone de Beauvoir applied existentialism to feminism: "One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman." The social role of "woman" is a construction, not a nature.

Question for reflection: Heidegger claimed that awareness of mortality makes life authentic. How does thinking about the finitude of your career or your life affect your priorities right now?