Logical Investigations (Husserl)
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The ''Logical Investigations'' (german: Logische Untersuchungen) (1900–1901; second edition 1913) are a two-volume work by the philosopher
Edmund Husserl , thesis1_title = Beiträge zur Variationsrechnung (Contributions to the Calculus of Variations) , thesis1_url = https://fedora.phaidra.univie.ac.at/fedora/get/o:58535/bdef:Book/view , thesis1_year = 1883 , thesis2_title ...
, in which the author discusses the
philosophy of logic Philosophy of logic is the area of philosophy that studies the scope and nature of logic. It investigates the philosophical problems raised by logic, such as the presuppositions often implicitly at work in theories of logic and in their application ...
and criticizes
psychologism Psychologism is a family of philosophical positions, according to which certain psychological facts, laws, or entities play a central role in grounding or explaining certain non-psychological facts, laws, or entities. The word was coined by Johann ...
, the view that
logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
is based on
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...
. The work has been praised by philosophers for helping to discredit psychologism, Husserl's opposition to which has been attributed to the philosopher
Gottlob Frege Friedrich Ludwig Gottlob Frege (; ; 8 November 1848 – 26 July 1925) was a German philosopher, logician, and mathematician. He was a mathematics professor at the University of Jena, and is understood by many to be the father of analytic phil ...
's criticism of his ''
Philosophy of Arithmetic ''Philosophy of Arithmetic: Psychological and Logical Investigations'' (german: Philosophie der Arithmetik. Psychologische und logische untersuchungen) is an 1891 book about the philosophy of mathematics by the philosopher Edmund Husserl. Husserl' ...
'' (1891). The ''Logical Investigations'' influenced philosophers such as
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
and
Emil Lask Emil Lask (25 September 1875 – 26 May 1915) was a German philosopher. A student of Heinrich Rickert at Freiburg University, he was a member of the Southwestern school of neo-Kantianism. Biography Lask was born in Austrian Galicia, as a son ...
, and contributed to the development of
phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
,
continental philosophy Continental philosophy is a term used to describe some philosophers and philosophical traditions that do not fall under the umbrella of analytic philosophy. However, there is no academic consensus on the definition of continental philosophy. Pri ...
, and
structuralism In sociology, anthropology, archaeology, history, philosophy, and linguistics, structuralism is a general theory of culture and methodology that implies that elements of human culture must be understood by way of their relationship to a broader ...
. The ''Logical Investigations'' has been compared to the work of the philosophers
Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and ...
and Wilhelm Dilthey, the latter of whom praised the work. However, the work has been criticized for its obscurity, and some commentators have maintained that Husserl inconsistently advanced a form of psychologism, despite Husserl's critique of psychologism. When Husserl later published ''Ideas'' (1913), he lost support from some followers who believed the work adopted a different philosophical position from that which Husserl had endorsed in the ''Logical Investigations''. Husserl acknowledged in his manuscripts that the work suffered from shortcomings.


Summary

The ''Logical Investigations'' comprise two volumes. In the German editions, these are Volume I, "Prolegomena to Pure Logic" (''Prolegomena zur reinen Logik''), and Volume II, "Investigations in Phenomenology and Knowledge" (''Untersuchungen zur Phänomenologie und Theorie der Erkenntnis''). In Volume I, Husserl writes that the ''Logical Investigations'' arose out of problems he encountered in attempting to achieve a "philosophical clarification of pure mathematics", which revealed to him shortcomings of logic as understood in his time. Husserl's "logical researches into formal arithmetic and the theory of
manifold In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space near each point. More precisely, an n-dimensional manifold, or ''n-manifold'' for short, is a topological space with the property that each point has a n ...
s" moved him beyond the study of mathematics and towards "a universal theory of formal deductive systems." He acknowledges that he had previously seen psychology as providing logic with "philosophical clarification", and explains his subsequent abandonment of that assumption. According to Husserl, logic "seeks to search into what pertains to genuine, valid science as such, what constitutes the Idea of Science, so as to be able to use the latter to measure the empirically given sciences as to their agreement with their Idea, the degree to which they approach it, and where they offend against it." He criticizes
empiricism In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empir ...
, and critiques psychologism, a position on the nature of logic according to which, the "essential theoretical foundations of logic lie in psychology"; Husserl criticizes the philosopher
John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
, taking his views on logic as an example of psychologism. He also discusses the views of the philosopher Immanuel Kant, as put forward in the '' Critique of Pure Reason'' (1781), as well as those of other philosophers, including
Franz Brentano Franz Clemens Honoratus Hermann Josef Brentano (; ; 16 January 1838 – 17 March 1917) was an influential German philosopher, psychologist, and former Catholic priest (withdrawn in 1873 due to the definition of papal infallibility in matters ...
,
Alexius Meinong Alexius Meinong Ritter von Handschuchsheim (17 July 1853 – 27 November 1920) was an Austrian philosopher, a realist known for his unique ontology. He also made contributions to philosophy of mind and theory of value. Life Alexius Meinong ...
, and
Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...
. In Volume II, Husserl discusses the relevance of linguistic analysis to logic and continues his criticism of Mill.


Publication history

The ''Logical Investigations'' was first published in two volumes in 1900 and 1901 by M. Niemeyer. Volume I of the second edition was first published in 1913, and Volume II of the second edition in 1921. In 1970, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd published an English translation by the philosopher
John Niemeyer Findlay John Niemeyer Findlay (; 25 November 1903 – 27 September 1987), usually cited as J. N. Findlay, was a South African philosopher. Education and career Findlay read classics and philosophy as a boy and then at the Transvaal Univers ...
. In 2001, a new edition of Findlay's translation with a preface by the philosopher
Michael Dummett Sir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett (27 June 1925 – 27 December 2011) was an English academic described as "among the most significant British philosophers of the last century and a leading campaigner for racial tolerance and equality." He wa ...
and an introduction by the philosopher
Dermot Moran Dermot Moran () is an Irish philosopher specialising in phenomenology and in medieval philosophy, and he is also active in the dialogue between analytic and continental philosophy. He is currently the inaugural holder of the Joseph Chair in Cat ...
was published by Routledge.


Reception


Husserl's assessment of the book

Husserl commented in ''Ideas'' that the ''Logical Investigations'' had led to phenomenology being mistakenly viewed as a branch of empirical psychology, despite his protests, in the article "Philosophy as Strict Science", that this was a misunderstanding of his work. Husserl's assessment of the ''Logical Investigations'' has been discussed in the ''
Journal of Speculative Philosophy The ''Journal of Speculative Philosophy'' is an academic journal that examines basic philosophical questions, the interaction between Continental and American philosophy, and the relevance of historical philosophers to contemporary thinkers. The ...
'' by Ullrich Melle; the journal also published Husserl's manuscript “On the Task and Historical Position of the ''Logical Investigations''”. Melle wrote that Husserl acknowledged in his manuscripts that the ''Logical Investigations'' suffered from shortcomings, which Husserl attributed to his initial failure to fully consider the proper sense and the full implications of their method and his lack of comprehension of how the work was related to both the history of philosophy and contemporary philosophy. According to Melle, Husserl was forced by concerns about his career to publish the ''Logical Investigations'' despite his awareness of these problems. He had not expected that the work would receive much attention, since it was allied with neither the trend to return to Kant nor the turn toward experimental psychology, and was surprised when it aroused considerable interest, something Husserl later attributed to its alignment with trends in philosophy, including one Melle summarized as a drive toward "an integration or synthesis of the legitimate motives" of both empiricism and rationalism. He noted that Husserl believed that most reactions to the work involved serious misunderstandings, for which Husserl believed that his use of the misleading term "descriptive psychology", which suggested a relapse into psychologism, was partly responsible. According to Melle, Husserl believed that commentators had wrongly associated his idea of
ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exis ...
with Meinong's theory of objects, and that Wundt had put forward an unfounded interpretation and critique of the ''Logical Investigations''. He added that when Husserl published ''Ideas'', he dismayed followers who saw it as abandoning Husserl's earlier commitment to realism. In “On the Task and Historical Position of the ''Logical Investigations''”, Husserl sought to explain his use of the term "descriptive psychology". Husserl observed that while he considered the ''Logical Investigations'' a development of Brentano's ideas, Brentano himself never recognized them as such due to their "completely different method", whereas Dilthey reacted to them favorably, even though they were not indebted to his writings. According to Husserl, Dilthey saw the work as "a first concrete achievement of his (own) ideas about a descriptive and analytic psychology." Husserl emphasized differences between his "descriptive psychology" and the philosophical approaches of both Brentano and Dilthey. He maintained that despite his "imperfect" approach to consciousness, he had helped to show that consciousness is "an achievement that takes place in manifold verifiable forms and associated syntheses, overall pervasively intentional, goal-oriented, directed toward ideas of truth."


Influence

The ''Logical Investigations'' influenced the philosopher
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
. Heidegger studied them while a student at the Collegium Borromaeum, a theological seminary in Freiburg, where they were so rarely requested from the university library that he was easily able to renew them. Heidegger was disappointed to find that they did not help to clarify the multiple meanings of being, but was nevertheless impressed by them and convinced to study philosophy as a result of reading them. Heidegger believed that the second volume marked an apparent revival of psychologism, which puzzled him. In ''
Being and Time ''Being and Time'' (german: Sein und Zeit) is the 1927 '' magnum opus'' of German philosopher Martin Heidegger and a key document of existentialism. ''Being and Time'' had a notable impact on subsequent philosophy, literary theory and many oth ...
'' (1927), Heidegger credited the ''Logical Investigations'' with making the work possible, and noted their influence on the philosopher Emil Lask. Heidegger credited Lask with being the only person who had taken up Husserl's investigations "from outside the main stream of phenomenological research". Heidegger pointed to Lask's ''Die Logik der Philosophie und die Kategorienlehre'' (1911) and ''Die Lehre vom Urteil'' (1912). The book influenced the philosopher
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...
, who drew on its ideas in works such as ''
The Transcendence of the Ego ''The Transcendence of the Ego'' (french: La Transcendance de l'ego: Esquisse d'une description phénomenologique) is a philosophical and Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenological essay written by the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in 1934 and pu ...
'' (1936) and ''
Being and Nothingness ''Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology'' (french: L'Être et le néant : Essai d'ontologie phénoménologique), sometimes published with the subtitle ''A Phenomenological Essay on Ontology'', is a 1943 book by the philosoph ...
'' (1943). The work also influenced the sociologist
Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in sociol ...
' ''
The Structure of Social Action ''The Structure of Social Action'' is a 1937 book by sociologist Talcott Parsons. In 1998 the International Sociological Association listed the work as the ninth most important sociological book of the 20th century, behind Jürgen Habermas' ''The ...
'' (1937), and the
Prague linguistic circle The Prague school or Prague linguistic circle is a language and literature society. It started in 1926 as a group of linguists, philologists and literary critics in Prague. Its proponents developed methods of structuralist literary analysis an ...
, thereby helping to establish the form of structuralism represented by the French anthropologist
Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthro ...
. The work influenced the linguist
Roman Jakobson Roman Osipovich Jakobson (russian: Рома́н О́сипович Якобсо́н; October 11, 1896Kucera, Henry. 1983. "Roman Jakobson." ''Language: Journal of the Linguistic Society of America'' 59(4): 871–883. – July 18,aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
and the philosopher Gustav Shpet's work on both aesthetics and the
philosophy of language In analytic philosophy, philosophy of language investigates the nature of language and the relations between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of meaning, intentionality, reference, ...
. It also influenced the philosopher
Ernst Tugendhat Ernst Tugendhat (born 8 March 1930) is a Czech-born German philosopher. He is a scion of the wealthy and influential Jewish Tugendhat family. Life and career He was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia, to Fritz and Greta Tugendhat, the wealthy Jewish fam ...
's work ''Vorlesungen zur Einführung in die sprachanalytische Philosophie'' (1976). The ''Logical Investigations'' have been compared to the philosophy of mathematics of the Nicolas Bourbaki group. Though they did not influence the structural linguistics of
Louis Hjelmslev Louis Trolle Hjelmslev (; 3 October 189930 May 1965) was a Danish linguist whose ideas formed the basis of the Copenhagen School of linguistics. Born into an academic family (his father was the mathematician Johannes Hjelmslev), Hjelmslev studie ...
and
Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...
, their theories have nevertheless been compared to Husserl's inquiries. It has also been suggested that the ''Logical Investigations'' dealt with questions concerning the role of language similar to those discussed in the theologian
Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
's '' Confessions''.


Discussions in the ''European Journal of Philosophy''

Discussions of the work in the ''
European Journal of Philosophy ''The European Journal of Philosophy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy published quarterly by Wiley-Blackwell. It was established by Mark Sacks in 1993 and the current editor-in-chief is Joseph K. Schear. Editorial Committee Th ...
'' include those by Gianfranco Soldati, Irene McMullin, and Lambert Zuidervaart. Soldati criticized the laws Husserl formulated concerning "the relations between dependent and independent parts of a whole", finding them "incomplete and not always easy to grasp." He also noted that some commentators have seen Husserl as maintaining that formal ontology is independent of formal logic, while others believe that for Husserl, formal ontology belongs to formal logic. Mcmullin argued that while in the ''Logical Investigations'', Husserl's discussion of "expression" was focused exclusively on its linguistic meaning, he developed a significantly expanded notion of expression in his later work. Zuidervaart wrote that the ''Logical Investigations'' have been variously interpreted by Anglo-American commentators, being seen as idealist by the philosopher Louis Dupré and realist by the philosopher
Dallas Willard Dallas Albert Willard (September 4, 1935 – May 8, 2013) was an American philosopher also known for his writings on Christian spiritual formation. Much of his work in philosophy was related to phenomenology, particularly the work of Edmund ...
, while others argue Husserl moved from realism to idealism. He added that there has been dispute over whether Husserl has "an epistemic conception of propositional truth" according to which propositional truth "depends on discursive justification to some significant degree". He concluded that Husserl suggests an alternative to "the epistemic/nonepistemic polarity in contemporary truth theory" and "a way to resituate propositional truth within a broader and more dynamic conception of truth".


Discussions in ''Human Studies''

Discussions of the work in ''
Human Studies Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the tim ...
'' include those by Mark Katherine Tillman and Keiichi Noé. Tillman maintained that the "descriptive psychology of prepredicative thought" Husserl expounded in the ''Logical Investigations'' had been anticipated by both Dilthey and the theologian
John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
, despite the fact that Newman, unlike Dilthey, never used the term. Noé argued that Husserl modified his views after the publication of the ''Logical Investigations'', expressing a different perspective in his posthumous work ''The Origin of Geometry''. He characterized these changes as "the Hermeneutic Tum" in the Husserlian phenomenology of language, suggesting that it was caused by "a change of attitude toward the constitutive function of language". He described Husserl's later view of language as "dialogical", in contrast to the "monological" view of the ''Logical Investigations''.


Discussions in ''Inquiry''

Discussions of the work in '' Inquiry'' include those by Wayne M. Martin and Lilian Alweiss. Martin defended Husserl against Dummett's argument that his attempt to extend an analysis of the structure of meaningful expressions into an account of the structure of meaning in experience is a form of psychologism and idealism. He attributed to Husserl the view that, "meanings are mind-independent structures that are also structures of consciousness", finding it controversial but defensible. He maintained that Husserl's later views on noemata were not a renunciation but a further development of those in the ''Logical Investigations'', even though Husserl introduced the term "noema" only in ''Ideas''. Alweiss argued that, contrary to a consensus among analytic philosophers, examination of the ''Logical Investigations'' shows that Husserl was not a "methodological solipsist". However, she considered it open to debate whether Husserl adopted a position of "
internalism Internalism and externalism are two opposite ways of integration of explaining various subjects in several areas of philosophy. These include human motivation, knowledge, justification, meaning, and truth. The distinction arises in many areas of de ...
".


Discussions in ''Studia Phaenomenologica''

Discussions of the work in ''
Studia Phaenomenologica ''Studia Phaenomenologica'' is a Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the study of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology and hermeneutics. It was established in 2001 by the Romanian Society for Phenomenology, and the foundin ...
'' include those by Peter Andras Varga and Bernardo Ainbinder. Varga discussed the philosopher
Leonard Nelson Leonard Nelson (; ; 11 July 1882 – 29 October 1927), sometimes spelt Leonhard, was a German mathematician, critical philosopher, and socialist. He was part of the neo-Friesian school (named after post-Kantian philosopher Jakob Friedrich Fr ...
's criticism of Husserl's arguments against psychologism in the ''Logical Investigations'' in ''Über das sogennante Erkenntnisproblem'' (1908), noting that Nelson charged Husserl with "mistaking deduction for proof" and thereby falsely assuming that a psychological foundation of logic would inevitably lead to a vicious circle. He argued that Nelson misunderstood and oversimplified Husserl's views and that his arguments against Husserl were flawed. He also noted that despite his criticism of Husserl, Nelson recognized some similarity between their views, suggesting that he made "a very fruitful comparison between his and Husserl’s enterprise". He suggested that Husserl also misunderstood Nelson, and that his phenomenology could benefit from Nelson's "''presentation of the framework of the problem of the foundation''." Criticizing the view that Lask's interest in the work represented his departure from neo-Kantianism, Ainbinder argued that Lask found insights in it that could contribute to making sense of the "Kantian transcendental project" through a "proper understanding of the Copernican Turn in objectivistic terms"; according to Ainbinder, these included the "secondary place of judgment in the constitution of the categorial" and "the idea of a formal ontology". Ainbinder further argued that the work could be seen, despite Husserl's view of it, as "a proper work of transcendental philosophy", noting that Lask, like Heidegger, believed that Husserl overlooked its "key tools for transcendental thought", and as a result was led into "subjectivistic idealism". He added that Lask beliefs about how its approach needed to be complemented anticipated Husserl's later work.


Other discussions in academic journals

Other discussions of the ''Logical Investigations'' in academic journals include those by Dieter Münch in the ''
Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology The British Society for Phenomenology (BSP) is an organization whose purpose is to pursue and exchange philosophical ideas inspired by Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. It was established in 1967 by Wolfe Mays. The society accomplishes it ...
'', the philosopher Dallas Willard in ''
The Review of Metaphysics ''The Review of Metaphysics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy. It was established by Paul Weiss and the first issue was published in September 1947. The journal's primary sponsor is and has been The Catholic University of Ameri ...
'', Juan Jesús Borobia in ''Tópicos. Revista de Filosofía'', John Scanlon in the ''Journal of Phenomenological Psychology'', John J. Drummond in the ''
International Journal of Philosophical Studies ''International Journal of Philosophical Studies'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, ...
'', Victor Biceaga in the ''
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences The ''Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of social and behavioral sciences. It was established in 1965 and is published by John Wiley & Sons. The editor-in-chief i ...
'', Richard Tieszen in ''
Philosophia Mathematica ''Philosophia Mathematica'' is a philosophical journal devoted to the philosophy of mathematics, published by Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest univers ...
'', Mariano Crespo in ''Revista de Filosofía'', Juan Sebastián Ballén Rodríguez in ''Universitas Philosophica'', Witold Płotka in ''Coactivity / Santalka'', Manuel Gustavo Isaac in ''History & Philosophy of Logic'', Mikhail A. Belousov in ''Russian Studies in Philosophy'', Victor Madalosso and Yuri José in ''Intuitio'', Findlay in ''
The Philosophical Forum ''The Philosophical Forum'' is a philosophy journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. It is currently edited by Alexus McLeod. History ''The Philosophical Forum'' was founded in 1943 as an annual philosophy journal, published by the Boston University ...
'', and Andrea Marchesi in ''
Grazer Philosophische Studien ''Grazer Philosophische Studien/International Journal for Analytic Philosophy'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal on philosophy published by Rodopi Publishers. It was established in 1975 by Rudolf Haller and is currently Editor-in-chief, edited ...
''. Sávio Passafaro Peres has discussed the work in ''Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia'' and ''Psicologia USP''. Münch described the ''Logical Investigations'' as a "highly theoretical book", finding it similar in this respect to the ''Critique of Pure Reason''. He maintained that Husserl's development of a theory of "symbolic knowledge" in the ''Logical Investigations'' showed that such a theory had been a significant problem for the early Husserl. He also argued that Husserl put forward a theory of truth in the work that represented a departure from that of his early writings, and that Husserl anticipated both aspects of
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
and criticisms of artificial intelligence made by philosophers such as
John Searle John Rogers Searle (; born July 31, 1932) is an American philosopher widely noted for contributions to the philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, and social philosophy. He began teaching at UC Berkeley in 1959, and was Willis S. and Mario ...
and
Hubert Dreyfus Hubert Lederer Dreyfus (; October 15, 1929 – April 22, 2017) was an American philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley. His main interests included phenomenology, existentialism and the philosophy of bo ...
. He rejected the view that the ''Logical Investigations'' can be understood only from the perspective of Husserl's later work, in which he developed transcendental phenomenology. Scanlon noted that Husserl visited Dilthey in 1905, after hearing favorable comments on his seminar on the ''Logical Investigations'', and that Dilthey had publicly stated that the book was "epoch-making in the use of description for the theory of knowledge." According to Scanlon, although Husserl's critique of psychologism was widely considered devastating, he caused confusion by using the terms "phenomenology" and "descriptive psychology" interchangeably, leading some to conclude that he was presenting a new version of psychologism. He suggested that this may have embarrassed Husserl, who later explained that phenomenology could be described as "descriptive psychology" only in a properly qualified sense; he also argued that, despite some similarities, Husserl's views as expressed in the ''Logical Investigations'' were in other respects radically different from Dilthey's. He wrote that by 1925 Husserl had developed a more satisfying perspective on the issues discussed in the work, including recognition that numbers are formed actively in counting and propositions in judging, the "kernel of truth in psychologism". He credited Husserl with introducing a "rich and insightful approach to psychic life" in the ''Logical Investigations''. Drummond maintained that Husserl's theory of "pure logical grammar" occupied an intermediary position between his earlier and more mature theories of meaning, and that later parts of the ''Logical Investigations'' indicated that the theory of meaning in earlier parts of the work required correction. He added that Husserl indicated, in the second edition of the work, that it required extensive revision. According to Drummond, Husserl wrote a partial and preliminary revision, including "a new distinction between signitive and significative intentions", and "the claim that all meaning-conferring acts, including nominal acts, and all meaning-fulfilling acts, including those fulfilling nominal acts, are categorially formed." He argued that the first edition of the work suffered from Husserl's "early conception of phenomenology as descriptive psychology", which resulted in "a misconception of the proper object of philosophical reflection" and a flawed account of expressive acts, and that Husserl used arguments that left him vulnerable to the charge that his views were a form of psychologism. However, he added that, in works such as ''Ideas'', Husserl reformulated "the distinction between phenomenological and intentional contents" and developed an improved understanding of "the proper object of philosophical reflection". This change of view was also expressed in the second edition of the ''Logical Investigations''. Płotka argued that Husserl's program of objective investigation could be reformulated in a way that made it possible to understand phenomenology as "therapeutic science", involving "the methodological movement of the possibility for communal formulation of transcendental investigation." Belousov questioned the details of Husserl's understanding of intentionality, noting that Husserl came to different conclusions in later works such as ''Ideas''. Madalosso and José argued that the book contained "various conceptual and terminological problems", including that of how "a psychic act, ideal meaning and real object achieves to establish a correspondence relation". Findlay argued that in ''Ideas'', Husserl attempted to disguise changes that had occurred in his opinions by attributing his views as of 1913 to the earlier ''Logical Investigations''. Marchesi argued that while it is widely accepted that "Husserl developed his most sophisticated theory of intentionality" in the ''Logical Investigations'', it had incorrectly been interpreted as non-relational by most commentators. He maintained that a phenomenological theory of intentionality based on Husserl's insights cannot be non-relational. In ''Estudos e Pesquisas em Psicologia'', Peres observed that Husserl's phenomenology was "received as a form of descriptive psychology" that aimed at "conceptual preparation for the development of an empirical psychology." In ''Psicologia USP'', he argued that Husserl understood phenomenology as a "peculiar form of descriptive psychology". He contrasted it with the classical empiricism of the 16th and 17th centuries and Kant's
transcendental idealism Transcendental idealism is a philosophical system founded by German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the 18th century. Kant's epistemological program is found throughout his '' Critique of Pure Reason'' (1781). By ''transcendental'' (a term that dese ...
.


Other evaluations

The philosopher
Jacques Derrida Jacques Derrida (; ; born Jackie Élie Derrida; See also . 15 July 1930 – 9 October 2004) was an Algerian-born French philosopher. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in numerous texts, and which was developed t ...
, who studied the ''Logical Investigations'' as a student in the 1950s, offered a critique of Husserl's work in ''
Speech and Phenomena ''Speech and Phenomena: And Other Essays on Husserl's Theory of Signs'', or ''Voice and Phenomenon: Introduction to the Problem of the Sign in Husserl's Phenomenology'', (french: La Voix et le Phénomène) is a book about the Phenomenology (philos ...
'' (1967). Adorno maintained that the second volume of the ''Logical Investigations'' was "ambiguous". The philosopher
Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...
commented that the ''Logical Investigations'' started a "vogue" for "anti-psychologism". He attributed Husserl's opposition to psychologism to the philosopher Gottlob Frege's criticism of the ''Philosophy of Arithmetic''. He believed that Husserl, in his discussion of science, proposed distinctions similar to
Popper's three worlds Popper's three worlds is a way of looking at reality, described by the Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper in a lecture given in August 1967. The concept involves three interacting worlds, called World 1, World 2 and World 3. Worlds 1, 2 a ...
. However, he suggested that Husserl had written in a way that had caused confusion about his views. He also criticized Husserl's view that a scientific theory is an hypothesis that has been proven correct. The philosopher Paul Ricœur credited Husserl, along with Frege, with helping to establish the dichotomy "between ''Sinn'' or sense and ''Vorstellung'' or representation". Helmut R. Wagner described the ''Logical Investigations'' as Husserl's first major work. The philosopher
Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher and writer who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of traditionalist conservative views. Editor from 1982 ...
has criticized the ''Logical Investigations'' for their obscurity; however, he has also described them as being of "great interest", and noted that, alongside ''Ideas for a Pure Phenomenology'' (1913) and ''Cartesian Meditations'' (1929), they were among the writings by Husserl that had attracted the most attention. The philosophers Barry Smith and David Woodruff Smith described the ''Logical Investigations'' as Husserl's ''magnum opus''. They credited Husserl with providing a "devastating" critique of psychologism, adding that it was more influential than similar critiques from other philosophers such as Frege and
Bernard Bolzano Bernard Bolzano (, ; ; ; born Bernardus Placidus Johann Gonzal Nepomuk Bolzano; 5 October 1781 – 18 December 1848) was a Bohemian mathematician, logician, philosopher, theologian and Catholic priest of Italian extraction, also known for his lib ...
, and brought to an end the period during which psychologism was most influential. They noted that following the publication of the ''Logical Investigations'', Husserl's interests shifted from logic and ontology to transcendental idealism and the methodology of phenomenology. According to Smith and Smith, Husserl's initial influence began at the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
, where Johannes Daubert, who read the ''Logical Investigations'' in 1902, persuaded a group of students to accept the work and reject the views of their teacher
Theodor Lipps Theodor Lipps (; 28 July 1851 – 17 October 1914) was a Germans, German philosopher, famed for his theory regarding aesthetics, creating the framework for the concept of ''Einfühlung'' (empathy)'','' defined as, "projecting oneself onto the ob ...
. The philosopher
Judith Butler Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler ...
compared the ''Logical Investigations'' to the early work of the philosopher
Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...
. Donn Welton stated that in the ''Logical Investigations'', Husserl introduced a novel conception of the relationships between language and experience, meaning and reference, and subject and object, and by his work on theories dealing with meaning, truth, the subject, and the object, helped create phenomenology, a new form of philosophy that went beyond psychologism,
formalism Formalism may refer to: * Form (disambiguation) * Formal (disambiguation) * Legal formalism, legal positivist view that the substantive justice of a law is a question for the legislature rather than the judiciary * Formalism (linguistics) * Scie ...
,
realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...
,
idealism In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...
,
objectivism Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Russian Americans, Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand. She described it as "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with prod ...
and
subjectivism Subjectivism is the doctrine that "our own mental activity is the only unquestionable fact of our experience", instead of shared or communal, and that there is no external or objective truth. The success of this position is historically attribute ...
, and made twentieth century continental philosophy possible. Moran wrote that the ''Logical Investigations'' exerted an influence on 20th-century European philosophy comparable to that which
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...
's ''
The Interpretation of Dreams ''The Interpretation of Dreams'' (german: Die Traumdeutung) is an 1899 book by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, in which the author introduces his theory of the unconscious with respect to dream interpretation, and discusses what w ...
'' (1899) had exerted on
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might b ...
. Powell described the analyses of signs and meaning in the ''Logical Investigations'' as "rigorous and abstract", "scrupulous", but also "tedious". The philosopher
Ray Monk Ray Monk (born 15 February 1957) is a British biographer who is renowned for his biographies of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and J. Robert Oppenheimer. He is emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Southampton, where he ...
described the ''Logical Investigations'' as obscurely written, adding that the philosopher
Bertrand Russell Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. He had a considerable influence on mathematics, logic, set theory, linguistics, ...
reported finding reading it difficult. The philosopher
Robert Sokolowski Monsignor Robert Sokolowski (born 3 May 1934) is a philosopher and Roman Catholic priest who serves as the Elizabeth Breckenridge Caldwell Professor of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America. Sokolowski's philosophical research is focuse ...
credited Husserl with providing a convincing critique of psychologism. However, he criticized the first edition of the ''Logical Investigations'' for sharply distinguishing between "the thing as given to us" and the
thing-in-itself In Kantian philosophy, the thing-in-itself (german: Ding an sich) is the status of objects as they are, independent of representation and observation. The concept of the thing-in-itself was introduced by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, and ...
, a standpoint he considered comparable to Kant's. He noted that between 1900 and 1910, Husserl abandoned these Kantian distinctions. According to Sokolowski, when Husserl expressed a new philosophical position in ''Ideas'', he was misinterpreted as adopting a traditional form of idealism and "many thinkers who admired Husserl's earlier work distanced themselves from what he now taught."


See also

*
Formal ontology In philosophy, the term formal ontology is used to refer to an ontology defined by axioms in a formal language with the goal to provide an unbiased (domain- and application-independent) view on reality, which can help the modeler of domain- or a ...
* Theory of moments


References


Bibliography

;Books * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Journals * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ;Online articles *


External links


''Logische Untersuchungen: Erster Theil''
– original text in German at
archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

''Logische Untersuchungen: Zweiter Theil''
– original text in German at archive.org {{Authority control 1900 non-fiction books 1901 non-fiction books 1900 essays 1901 essays Books by Edmund Husserl German non-fiction books Logic literature Phenomenology literature Philosophy of mathematics literature