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Hedwig Conrad-Martius’ Ontological Phenomenology pp 1–7Cite as

Introduction

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Part of the book series: Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences ((WHPS,volume 5))

Abstract

Hedwig Conrad-Martius (1888–1966), although little-known in the English-speaking world today, was considered by many during her lifetime as the “first lady” of German philosophy. This was not because she was the wife of a famous German philosopher (her husband, Theodor Conrad, published little during his lifetime,1 and moved away from professional philosophy altogether, though he was one of the founders of the Göttingen Circle of phenomenologists), but because she was one of the first women to obtain a Ph.D. in and to lecture on philosophy at a German university.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Shortly before his death, Conrad’s Zur Wesenslehre des psychischen Lebens und Erlebens (Conrad 1968) was published.

  2. 2.

    Conrad-Martius 2015, p. 57.

  3. 3.

    In her 1958 acceptance speech, Conrad-Martius recalls that this course was on David Hume (Conrad-Martius 2015, p. 57). However, her official enrollment documents from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich indicate that the seminar was on Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason.

  4. 4.

    Husserl 1994, p. 103. It is perhaps worth noting here that Conrad-Martius was one of five women in the Munich Circle in the summer of 1910. The others were Margarete Calinich, Frau Dieltrich, Frau Dr. Ortner, and Katharine Tischendorf (see the Semester-Bericht des Akademischen Vereins für Psychologie. München. Sommer-Semester 1910 in the Nachlass of Maximilian Beck at the Bavarian State Library, Ana 354 D.II.1).

  5. 5.

    “Ich möchte Dir nur unsere begabteste Münchner Philosophin, Fräulein Martius, empfehlen, die jetzt nach Göttingen kommt” (Conrad-Martiusiana D.I.2.vi—Brief von Moritz Geiger an Adolf Reinach, 28.IX.1910).

  6. 6.

    For the list of courses by Husserl and Reinach that she attended, see the footnote at Conrad-Martius 2015, p. 52. Noteworthy is Conrad-Martius’ participation in Husserl’s winter semester 1910/11 lecture course on The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (Husserl 2006), which I have translated to English.

  7. 7.

    References throughout will be to the Husserliana editions of this text; Husserl 1975, 1984a, b.

  8. 8.

    We shall discuss Conrad-Martius’ attitude towards Husserl in the next chapter. For a historical account of the phenomenological movement see Spiegelberg 1994.

  9. 9.

    See especially, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe (Koyré 1957).

  10. 10.

    Hering 1921.

  11. 11.

    Edith Stein arrived in Göttingen only after Conrad-Martius had departed, but the two women became close friends. For insight into their relationship, see Stein’s Briefe an Hedwig Conrad-Martius (Stein 1960). This volume contains an interesting discussion by Conrad-Martius concerning Judaism and phenomenology. See Stein 1960, pp. 61–82.

  12. 12.

    Reinach 1921, pp. 5–37.

  13. 13.

    Conrad-Martius 1913, 1920. The work is thus often referred to as the “Preisschrift.”

  14. 14.

    See Conrad-Martius 1929.

  15. 15.

    I have had access to this manuscript and others through the kindness of Eberhard Avé-Lallemant, Conrad-Martius’ “Mitarbeiter” in her last years and the editor of her three volume Schriften zur Philosophie (Conrad-Martius 1963, 1964, 1965).

  16. 16.

    Conrad-Martius 1958.

  17. 17.

    Pohl 1961, p. 839.

  18. 18.

    See, e.g., Conrad-Martius 1965, p. 276. This is a statement showing a strong Thomist influence. See also Conrad-Martius 1963, p. 427. For Conrad-Martius, the clear vision arising from faith is dependent on charity and purity of soul—not widespread characteristics among Christians or anyone else.

  19. 19.

    What essences and facts mean here will be discussed in the next chapter.

  20. 20.

    The source is Künftige Kosmologie (Conrad-Martius 1964, pp. 380–382), a short essay in honor of Theodor Haecker (1879–1945), written at the time of the original manuscript of Metaphysik des Irdischen.

  21. 21.

    If one did not experience the tragic essence, Conrad-Martius would probably say she was “essence-blind.”

  22. 22.

    Conrad-Martius 1964, p. 382.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    James G. Hart

  2. Dominican University College, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Rodney K. B. Parker

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  1. James G. Hart
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  1. Dominican University College, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Rodney K. B. Parker

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Hart, J.G., Parker, R.K.B. (2020). Introduction. In: Parker, R.K.B. (eds) Hedwig Conrad-Martius’ Ontological Phenomenology. Women in the History of Philosophy and Sciences, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44842-4_1

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