Contemporary Irrationalism and the Betrayal of Husserl’s Legacy

Abstract

In the troubled itinerary of contemporary philosophy Husserl’s phenomenology holds a central role where not easily reconcilable assumptions meet, i.e.: 1) the transcendental moment of reflection, which finds its strength in the centrality of the “I” and in the subsequent primacy of the dimension of consciousness as related to the dimension of objectivity of the natural world; 2) the moment of Lebenswelt, the “world-of-life,” i.e., of the return to a pre-category and pre-reflective moment of the “I”’s “Da-sein” in its natural daily existence. Between these two assumptions Husserl’s phenomenology provokes a conflict which has not always been easily settled. Nevertheless, the equilibrium and solidity of Husserl’s philosophical spirit enabled him to achieve a vision of undoubted greatness and originality.