Hello all,

I'm struggling to grasp Husserl's concepts of evidence or "in itself" and their noetic correlate—truth or verification. I was trying to understand these ideas from his Third Meditation in Cartesian Meditations but haven't had much success.

Any explanation or references to clear sources (secondary sources included) would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Hi I'm new to this subreddit, and I wanted to share a doubt I had in reducing perception to acts of familiar pre-reflective understanding of the world. For example, the entirety of Merleau-Ponty's ontology is based on the notion of flesh, which is this common style of being that the body and the world share through an act of reversal between internal and external. While I very much like these considerations, I recently thought about their limits, since phenomenologists (especially heidegger) tend to have a pre-concieved notion of experience and then just flat out tell that if you don't fall in their definition of perception, you're not perceiving at all. This is clear in the way Heidegger doesn't consider animals to understand Being, and so classifies them as unimportant in his analysis. I'm not critiquing phenomenology as a whole, I think it's the best place of philosophical inquiry, but while I appreciate how these thinkers radically change how we view experience, their analyses sometimes don't help us understand phenomena as such, for example when Merleau-Ponty in the Phenomenology of Perception classifies the experience of a patient with deficiency in perception as not being alle to penetrate the world in its meaning, since he always interacts with things in a non-expressive almost theoretical attitude. My question is, if experience of the world with no familiarity or expressivity are possible, should't phenomenology open its horizons if it wants to understand the most general structures of perception? This is a genuine question, I genuinely have't made up my mind about these topics

The song Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce puts me in fight or flight mode and I have to turn it off anytime it comes on. Even covers, it came on in a show I was just watching and my heart started racing. And I tried to keep it on but couldn’t and had to skip it. It literally freaked me out the first time I ever heard it as well, before the lyrics started, but even worse after they had. Does anyone know why this could be?

Also this might not be the right subreddit for this but idk where else to post it, if anyone knows a better one pls lmk!

Hi, I'm new to R/Phenomenology. I'm mainly posting here to ask for directions to take regarding the topic of Intentionality.

I am currently wrapping up with Kant's CPR and have gotten back into studying the philosophy of mind (where I first started). I have more experience reading through analytic philosophy rather than continental. The only continental philosophers I have read are Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.

I'm planning on reading Husserl either way and have my eye on Ideas vol 1.

Main question I have is regarding the 'problem of Intentionality' as Im looking for any book that discusses this in much more detail. I was thinking of picking up Brentano's major work 'Psychology from an emperical standpoint' but it seems that people usually don't recommend it.

So any book recommendations regarding Intentionality (and maybe even Husserl) I would really appreciate.

My apologies regarding the length of this question.

I am planning on writing a phenomenology paper on religious art. I have read Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Bachelard’s work on aesthetics, specifically “the origin of the work of art”, “eye and mind”, and “poetics of space”. I couldn’t help but get entranced in a lot of the almost mystical language like Heidegger’s strife between world and earth, Merleau-Ponty’s invisible worlds and being-of-the-world, or Bachelard’s intimate immensity.

In my readings of these three discussing art, I got the impression that they were all talking about some sort of experience of “cosmicity” (random term I just came up with). I believe there is something to be investigated in phenomenology of art and phenomenology of religion. I immediately think of Marion’s phenomenology of giveness and some of his work on revelation that I’ve came across in passing, but besides this, and the Stanford encyclopedia entree on phenomenology of religion, I am a little lost on research.

Specifically, I want to focus on a painting of Jesus Christ or maybe even cathedral architecture.

It’s safe to say this will be a careful procedure and something that will require much more work than can be done in a paper, but I would still like give it a try, have some fun, and maybe get some thoughts down maybe for later work.

This is all to say, does anyone know of any work that specifically addresses phenomenology of religious art? Or does anyone have any thoughts themselves?

Thank you!!

It's a feeling of being connected to something larger. Like you and the others are feeling too. I know I heard the term somewhere, and have experienced it, but what is it? or what is it called? can anyone guide me or point me on the right direction please? TIA

I am approaching phenomenology and I struggle to graps what "the originally offered in the intuition" is about. Are the primitive (forgive my lack of better and more technical terminology) concepts and ideas, the a priori categories, what is originally offered to us in the flesh and bones, the starting toolkit we are equipped with, the kernel of the DaSein itself? However we want to describe that stuff, deep woven into ourselves.. are we talking about, for example, quantity, absence, presence, existence, becoming/change, space, before and after, things, the difference between things, the difference between self and things, boundaries, causation/correlation, basic elements of logic and math etc?

Those inescapable features of our cognition, that even in defining them, or denying them, or in doubting them, one icannot avoid to make use of them?

Or I'm framing intuition and its contents in the wrong way.

Thanks for you patience

I've had phenomenology at university and I think I got a pretty good understanding of it's basic concepts and foundations, but I'd like to revist it to be absolutely sure I know the basics solidly and also where I should go from there to further dephen my understaing on the matter. Which books/texts/articles and in which order should I read to achive my goal?

Edit: Thanks everyone, I see some very good suggestions here. Feel free to add more if you want to, it will surely help people in the same place I am.

Using the "Hostile Witness" of Language for Good.

from "Understanding Reality Through the Lens of Agent Theory" - AI Shepard: Tem Noon -

Language, and specifically text, presents a unique paradox. On the one hand, it can be seen as a "hostile witness"—an entity that holds power to obscure, mislead, and complicate the journey toward truth and genuine understanding. On the other hand, if harnessed wisely, it can be transformed into a powerful ally for greater clarity and connection. By understanding the double-edged nature of language, we can use it to transcend separation, avoid the traps of dogmatic belief, and foster deeper, more genuine connections between ourselves and others.

• Language as a Non-Canonical Tool: One of the greatest risks presented by language is its capacity to create and enforce canonical beliefs—fixed truths that, when taken as absolute, become tools of separation rather than connection. Language, when treated as an immutable representation of truth, can lead to dogmatic thinking and exclusionary ideologies. It has often been used to control, to establish hierarchies, and to enforce notions of right and wrong that obscure the underlying interconnectedness of all beings. Canonical beliefs, by their nature, are always ultimately wrong because they present contingent and contextual truths as though they are universal an dobjective. To truly use language to our advantage, we must reject its role as a basis for separation and as an instrument of ideological control. Instead of using language to create rigid systems of belief, we should approach it as a flexible and fluid means of communication. Language should be a bridge that connects rather than a wall that divides. It should be a means of dialogue and exploration rather than a mechanism for imposing fixed truths on others. The aim is not to establish dogma but to engage in a continuous process of questioning, understanding, and growing together.
• Avoiding the Fallacy of Good Ends Through Bad Means: Language has often been used to convince people to do good things for the wrong reasons. This is no victory for good—it is, instead, the erosion of the illusion of something to believe in. When people are manipulated into acting for ostensibly positive outcomes based on deception or coercion, the underlying integrity of those actions is compromised. The use of language in this way undermines the very values it seeks to promote and perpetuates a cycle of mistrust and dissillusionment. To avoid this fallacy, it is crucial to use language honestly and transparently, even when the message is complex or difficult to convey. The goal should not be to create an illusion of certainty but to communicate openly about the uncertainties and ambiguities that characterize the human condition. This approach requires a willingness to embrace vulnerability, to acknowledge that we do not have all the answers, and to invite others into a shared exploration of meaning. By doing so, we cultivate trust, foster genuine understanding, and create the conditions for meaningful connection.
• The Core Commonality of Being: In giving up belief as a rigid construct, we find the core commonality that all who are alive today share. Our connection is not found in the acceptance of a common ideology or set of beliefs but in the shared experience of being. The moment of being—the present, the now—is the only true common ground we have, and it is the most precious gift we possess. It is through this shared, immediate experience that we come to know one another in the most genuine and profound sense.Language, when used with awareness, can help us articulate and deepen this shared experience. Instead of using language to build narratives that separate us—whether through identity, ideology, or belief—we can use it to highlight our interconnectedness and the fleeting, precious nature of the present moment. This is where the teachings of Derrida and Buddhism converge, emphasizing the fluidity of meaning and the emptiness of fixed constructs. By embracing the notion that nothing has inherent, unchanging essence, we free ourselves from the constraints of language as a tool for separation and instead use it as a way to celebrate our shared humanity.The power of the present moment lies in its universality. It is the only point of existence that is truly common to all beings, transcending the layers of abstraction that language often imposes. In recognizing this, we shift the focus from belief systems to shared experience, from dogma to dialogue, and from separation to connection. By using language to draw attention to the immediacy of the present, we cultivate a deeper appreciation for our shared journey through existence.

In this way, the "hostile witness" of language becomes a powerful ally, not by asserting fixed truths but by guiding us toward deeper awareness of our interconnectedness. The act of communication becomes an invitation to be present, to understand one another beyond words, and to honor the commonality of our existence. This, ultimately, is the most precious knowability we have of one another—the shared moment of being, where we are all agents in the field of agency, co-creating reality together.

I come from a math background and recently began to study Transperancy, Intentionality etc., and such, wanted to put forth the multitude of facets in intentionality as it seems to be a central concept in further reading. Correct me if I'm contributing to a false conception here

Intentionality is the "aboutness" relating to a state of affairs, objects or a single, discrete object, but, in many cases it seems to be equivalent of the phenomenal character

To say that conscious experiences exhibit intentionality is to say that they are of or about something. It does not imply they must be voluntary or deliberate (Graham, Horgan, and Tienson 2009, 521). When I see a book, for instance, my seeing is of the book, and when I desire a pay raise, my experience of desiring is directed at my getting a raise. In accordance with established usage, I will frequently refer to such experiences as “acts,” and refer to those things they are directed upon as their “objects,

(Walter Hopp 2020, 2)

So the salient condition in which we desire a pay raise is considered intentionality in that context? Doesn't the phenomenal character of that very state of affairs suffice us desiring a pay raise though? What differs Intentionality and phenomenal character here? Another categorization is "intentional directedness", when Walter Hopp is talking about Speaks' difference in object intentionalism, he uses this very word

Any introspectable difference between experiences above and beyond differences in their intentional directedness, along with various non-intentional relations that each bears to objects and other experiences, is a difference in their objects. If all that is available to introspection or inner awareness beyond the existence, intentional direction, and non-intentional relations that the experience bears to other things and experiences are entities on the right-hand side of the intentional nexus, then any phenomenal difference between two experiences must be a difference in their objects.

(Walter Hopp 2020, 10)

So is intentional directedness the "genre" in which we map a set of objects to a other one, constituting a "personalized" and "intentional" experience along with other relations that come off as "non-intentional"?

https://sophere.org/upcoming-events-2024/non-objects-cfa-2024/

Should be a great event! Graham Harman and Michel Bitbol are confirmed as speakers.

I remember learning about some philosopher (I thought it was Simone Weil but maybe I'm wrong) who said that there is a profound and infinite difference between an empty room and then one where there is a human in it. And then to ponder on why that is. I have tried googling this but nothing really comes up.

Hi, I've started reading phenomenology lately and I've been really interested in Husserl's intentionality (and other philosopher's interpretations of it). A while back, I studied the problem of personal identity in philosophy (mainly the Neo-lockean and animalist divide). It seems to me that someone like Husserl would respond to their arguments using the concept of intentionality as a condition for identity (or ig a way that identity can be formed and evolved). Just wondering if there were any phenomenologists who dealt with this problem more explicitly? Thanks in advance!

EXTENDED DESCRIPTIONS (expanding on post 1 of 2)

I. Contextual Shifts (Theme remains essentially unchanged)

1. Enlargement Definition: The thematic context for the theme grows or expands in significance while the theme remains essentially unchanged. Examples:
   • Realizing the wider implications of a scientific theory while studying it
   • Appreciating a painting and gradually seeing its connections to broader artistic movements Important details:
   • Enlargement is a possibility of almost any well-formed theme
   • It can be a significant part of certain types of aesthetic experience
   • It may be involved in what is called "social attention" or "joint attention"
2. Contraction Definition: The thematic context for the theme narrows in significance. Examples:
   • Becoming so absorbed in a problem that other related concerns fade away
   • A jet flying low over a crowd, causing the context to condense to just the immediate experience Important details:
   • Contraction happens less often than enlargement
   • It may be involved in boredom, monotony, or depression
   • Can be part of expert training in certain movements or activities
3. Elucidation Definition: The clearing, to some extent, of an obscurity in the thematic context. Examples:
   • Understanding the relevance of a poem's title as you read through it
   • Clarifying details about a new colleague as you talk to them Important details:
   • Elucidation is never completely successful, as there's always some obscurity in the field
   • It may be involved in certain meditation practices like Buddhist mindfulness-awareness
   • Can be part of the decision-making process
4. Obscuration Definition: Hiding or covering over the relevance of the thematic context for the theme. Examples:
   • Repressing the significance of one's behavior in relation to underlying insecurities
   • The disruptive effect of bizarreness on memory for contextual details Important details:
   • Never completely covers over the relevance of the theme for the thematic context
   • May play a role in memory distortions
   • Could be involved in writer's block or other expressive disabilities
5. Context Replacement Definition: One context is replaced by another, while the theme remains essentially constant. Examples:
   • Realizing an approaching bus is not your ride home, shifting from seeing it as transport to an obstacle
   • An entomologist with arachnophobia shifting from seeing a spider as a threat to a subject of study Important details:
   • More radical than other contextual shifts, but still keeps the theme constant
   • Can be crucial in overcoming phobias or persistent attitudes
   • May be involved in creative problem-solving
   • More to come....please feel free to suggest your own ideas!

II. Simple Thematic Shifts

1. Serial-shifting Definition: Sequential thematic attention to consecutive content, where the gestalt now thematic is attended to within a thematic context that includes the previous theme and the future theme as serially related to the current theme. Examples:
   • Counting or performing step-by-step mathematical operations
   • Following the plot of a story as it unfolds Important details:
   • Particularly important for accomplishing procedures or step-by-step tasks
   • The identity of elements remains unchanged as they shift from theme to context
   • Has significant implications for instruction manuals, procedural textbooks, and process learning
   • More to come....please feel free to suggest your own ideas!

III. Radical Thematic Shifts

1. Restructuring Definition: A substantial change in the function of the formative constituents of the theme. Examples:
   • Perceiving the Necker cube or other ambiguous figures differently
   • Seeing a bluish-gray formation as either a cloud or a mountain skyline Important details:
   • Confined to the thematic dimension
   • Gurwitsch claims it's a universal possibility of any theme
   • Important in problem-solving and moral judgments
2. Singling Out Definition: When a constituent of a theme is attended to thematically, so that this constituent becomes a theme itself. Examples:
   • Focusing on one row of flowers in a garden, then on a single flower in that row
   • Attending to a particular face in a family photograph Important details:
   • Most researched transformation in attending, often called "selective attention"
   • Not all themes admit singling out
   • Involves inter-dimensional changes (between theme and context)
3. Synthesis Definition: The transformation of a theme into a constituent of a new theme. Examples:
   • Seeing individual letters form a word, then words form a sentence
   • Understanding how separate musical notes combine into a melody Important details:
   • Complement to singling out
   • Sometimes referred to as "zooming out"
   • The previous theme undergoes significant changes as it becomes part of the new theme
   • More to come....please feel free to suggest your own ideas!

IV. Margin to Theme Succession

1. Attention Capture Definition: When some content becomes salient and replaces what was previously thematic. Examples:
   • A sudden loud noise drawing attention away from a conversation
   • Noticing hunger pangs while working on a task Important details:
   • Involves a transition from irrelevant to relevant content
   • Can be almost immediate or more subtle
   • Plays a role in orienting responses and exogenous attention

SPACE OF DIMENSIONAL(ITY) INTERACTION (table 1 of 2)

OTHER IMPORTANT FEATURES

ELEMENTS - inspired by Gurwitsch/Husserl

1. Formative and Formed Constituents (of a theme)

Definition:

• Formative constituents: These are dominant or chief constituents (phenomena) within a theme that play a key role in organizing the theme as a whole.
• Formed constituents: These are constituents that are organized or shaped by the formative constituents.

Example: In a row of flowering roses, the first several flowers might be formative constituents, while the rest are formed constituents. In this example, the formative constituents are "thematic" proper i.e., salient & well defined. The formative constituents are salient but not well-defined, they are part of the theme but not properly thematic as such.

• This distinction exists within the thematic dimension.
• The relationship between formative and formed constituents can change during restructuring.
• Not all themes have this distinction; some may be more homogeneous.

2. Independent and Dependent Parts:

Definition:

• Independent parts: Constituents that can be singled out as themes themselves.
• Dependent parts: Constituents that cannot be singled out.

Example: In visual perception, a color patch on a surface might be a dependent part, while a distinct object on that surface could be an independent part.

• This distinction was important in Husserl's work, but Gurwitsch critiqued and refined it.
• Gurwitsch argued that the possibility of singling out should not be conflated with actual singling out.
• This distinction is related to the possibility of certain attentional transformations.

EXPANDED Dimensional Interplay Matrix (table 2 of 2)

This table integrates all 11 dimensions: the CORE 4 (Thematic Focus, Contextual Field, Halo, Horizon) and the 7 resulting dimensionalities (Latent Potentiality, Emergent Synergy, Cross-Modal Fusion, Recursive Reflection, Intersubjective Resonance, Temporal Horizon Shift, and Emotional Substrate).

The matrix captures different forms of dimensionality (shifts, transformations, re-structurings) across these dimensions, along with several examples for each shift type. Does not include Genesis/seeding, Fusion of Situations, Fission of Situations, etc.

^((MINIMAL DESCRIPTIONS (of the above)************)

^(Contextual Shifts:)

^(Enlargement: Thematic context grows.)

^(Contraction: Thematic context narrows.)

^(Elucidation: Thematic context becomes clearer.)

^(Obscuration: Thematic context is repressed or obscured.)

^(Context Replacement: One context replaces another without changing the theme.)

^(Simple Thematic Shifts:)

^(Serial-Shifting: Sequential attention where each theme retains its identity.)

^(Radical Thematic Shifts:)

^(Restructuring: Fundamental change in thematic configuration.)

^(Singling Out: A constituent becomes the new theme.)

^(Synthesis: Separate themes integrate into a new whole.)

^(Margin-to-Theme Capture:)

^(Attention Capture: Previously marginal content becomes thematically relevant.))

ENDING:

The Structural Situativity Approach (SSA) integrates 11 dimensions of situativity (so far), offering a (potentially, virtually) comprehensive model for understanding the structure of situations / situatedness, and captures how the core dimensions of our situated existence (we're always in a situation, the body as a situation generator, world as the situation of situations) interact, come into being, seed new, transition, fuse, fiss and otherwise change.

Futurue Direction of Research:

There are many. I note one particularly intriguing possibility here:

The margin (more specifically the halo) of marginal consciousness is the condition for the possibility of an existential locus of subjectivity. Why?

Gurwitsch writes:

"Because at every moment of conscious life [no matter our present attitude or thematic-context] we are aware of a certain segment of the stream of consciousness, of our embodied existence, and of the perceptual world -- the belief in the existence of this world and the apprehension of ourselves as pertaining to it as mundane existents -- are permanently present to consciousness.”

Without the kind of presence unique to these three "ordering dimensions" of existence, the unity of being-in-the-world dissolves as confirmed by reports given by individuals in the most extraordinary experiences, e.g., the DMT experience. In this case, situativity is absolutized, it is absolved from relations to the surrounding world & ceases to fit into any 'umwelt'. This is an excellent direction for research.

The purpose of this Reddit post is to create a place to investigate & explore the Structural Situativity Approach to human existence....

Structural Situativity Approach (SSA)

The Structural Situativity Approach (SSA) builds on my earlier Existential Situation Structure (ESS) and S. Arvidson's Sphere of Attention (inspired by A. Gurwitsch), but expands it significantly to integrate deeper phenomenological, attentional, and emotional structures. It introduces various transformations within attention and situativity, focusing on both subtle and radical shifts in human engagement with the world...

A.1 CORE DIMENSIONS: THEME, CONTEXT, MARGIN (PRINCIPLES OF DIMENSIONAL OF ORGANIZATION)

THEME

1. Thematic Focus: The central point of conscious engagement, representing a unitary content that receives the most attention.
   • Examples:
     • A painter focusing on a specific area of their canvas.
     • A surgeon concentrating on an organ during an operation.
     • A student solving a mathematical proof.
     • A listener focused intently on the melody in a song.

CONTEXT

1. Contextual Field: All elements relevant to the thematic focus, organized by relevancy. These elements support the theme but remain secondary, maintaining coherence within the broader context.
   • Examples:
     • For the painter: The rest of the painting, brushes, color palette, and lighting.
     • For the surgeon: The patient’s vital signs, other organs, surgical tools, and assistants.
     • For the listener: The musical composition, rhythm, and background instruments.

MARGIN

1. Halo: The part of the margin most closely adjoining the thematic context. Elements in the halo may become relevant under another perspective but remain peripherally relevant at the moment.
   • Examples:
     • For the painter: The feel of the brush in hand or ambient light conditions.
     • For the student: The ticking of a clock in the room or the feel of clothes on their skin.
     • For the listener: Memories associated with the song or bodily sensations (such as very minor discomfort from loud bass).
2. Horizon: Elements that are present but irrelevant to the current thematic focus and contextual field. They form the background of awareness and may remain unnoticed unless attention shifts dramatically.
   • Examples:
     • For the painter: Distant traffic noise, thoughts about unrelated projects, or the temperature in the room.
     • For the surgeon: Hospital announcements, thoughts of the patient's family, or unrelated external sounds.

A.2 DIMENSIONALITIES: Products of interaction between Dimensions of Organization

1. Latent Potentiality: Represents unconscious or subconscious content that is always present in the background but can be triggered by certain situational factors.
   • Examples:
     • For the musician: A forgotten melody suddenly resurfaces while composing a new song.
     • For the student: A previously forgotten concept comes to mind when struggling with a problem.
2. Emergent Synergy: Refers to the emergence of novel insights or experiences from the interaction between the thematic focus and the contextual field. This process integrates previously disconnected elements.
   • Examples:
     • For the painter: The fusion of brush strokes and color blending produces an unexpected artistic effect.
     • For the surgeon: The unanticipated interaction between medical data leads to a new diagnosis.
3. Cross-Modal Fusion: Involves the integration of sensory inputs from different modalities (e.g., visual, auditory, tactile), creating a cross-sensory experience.
   • Examples:
     • For the painter: The tactile sensation of the brush complements the visual perception of the painting, creating a fused experience.
     • For the listener: The combination of sound and visual imagery evokes strong emotions that neither could evoke alone.
4. Recursive Reflection: This dimension refers to iterative attention cycles where thematic focus revisits the contextual field, leading to deeper comprehension or insight.
   • Examples:
     • For the student: Reflecting on a difficult math problem and repeatedly cycling through previous knowledge deepens understanding.
     • For the philosopher: Recursive reflection on a key concept gradually leads to more profound insights.
5. Intersubjective Resonance: Refers to the alignment of personal halo elements with collective focus, enabling a shared understanding or attention shift in a group setting.
   • Examples:
     • In a group discussion: As one person’s halo content (an idea) becomes relevant, others’ focus shifts toward that same idea, creating group synergy.
6. Temporal Horizon Shift: Represents shifts in attention based on temporal relations—between past, present, and future. This dimension integrates memories, immediate perceptions, and anticipations.
   • Examples:
     • A student recalling past lessons while solving a present problem and anticipating future exams.
     • A painter noticing how past brush techniques influence their current project.
7. Emotional Substrate: Underlying emotional tone that modulates how all other dimensions are experienced. It can color attention, perception, and engagement in various ways.
   • Examples:
     • For the listener: The emotional impact of the music shapes how different instruments and melodies are perceived.
     • For the painter: Emotions influence how colors and forms on the canvas are interpreted.

B. TRANSFORMATIONS OF SITUATIVITY (PRINCIPLES OF DIMENSIONAL TRANSFORMATION)

See Aron Gurwitsch's "thematic modifications"....

I. SITUATION-TRANSFORMATIONS / CONTEXT STRUCTURZATIONS / THEMATIC SHIFTS

These involve changes in the thematic context while the theme remains essentially unchanged. These shifts keep the theme stable while changing the relevance or significance of the context around it.

1. Enlargement: Thematic context expands while the theme remains intact.
   • Examples:
     • Realizing broader artistic movements while focusing on a particular painting.
     • Understanding wider social or scientific implications of a theory while studying it.
2. Contraction: Thematic context narrows, possibly leading to experiences like boredom or monotony.
   • Examples:
     • A jet flying low, narrowing a crowd’s context to the immediate environment.
     • Deep absorption in a problem, causing related concerns to fade away.
3. Elucidation: Clarifying obscure elements in the thematic context.
   • Examples:
     • Discovering the relevance of a poem’s title while reading it.
     • Understanding a new colleague’s role after further discussion.
4. Obscuration: Covering or repressing the relevance of the thematic context.
   • Examples:
     • Repressing one’s insecurities in social behavior.
     • Distorted memories due to contextual bizarreness.
5. Context Replacement: One context is replaced by another while the theme stays constant.
   • Examples:
     • Seeing an approaching bus as either a form of transport or an obstacle.
     • Shifting perception of a spider from a threat to a research subject.

II. Simple Thematic Shifts (Serial-Shifting)

These involve sequential shifts from one theme to another, where the content remains serially related. A straightforward change in the thematic focus.

1. Serial-Shifting: Sequential attention to consecutive content where each theme retains its identity.
   • Examples:
     • Following a story as it unfolds.
     • Counting steps while walking through a procedure.

III. Radical Thematic Shifts

More substantial transformations of the theme itself.

1. Restructuring: A significant change in the function of thematic constituents.
   • Examples:
     • Perceiving an ambiguous figure (like the Necker cube) in different ways.
     • Seeing a landscape as either clouds or mountains.
2. Singling Out: A constituent of a theme becomes the new theme itself.
   • Examples:
     • Focusing on one flower in a row of plants.
     • Attending to a particular face in a family photograph.
3. Synthesis: Thematic focus integrates previously separate themes into a new whole.
   • Examples:
     • Individual musical notes form a melody.
     • Separate letters combine to form a meaningful word or sentence.

IV. Margin-to-Theme Capture

When content from the margin (previously irrelevant) becomes the new theme, replacing the previous focus​

1. Attention Capture: When previously irrelevant content becomes salient and displaces the current theme.
   • Examples:
     • A sudden noise captures attention away from a conversation.
     • Noticing hunger while deeply absorbed in work.

For more, see part 2/2

Do you guys think the transcendentals Good, true, and beautiful correspond to the three acts of the mind (i.e. Concepts, judgments, and reasoning)?

So, Concepts-good, Judgements-true Reasoning-beautiful

And what is your experience of entering into these conceptually and receiving feedback?

Seems in experience that I feel some layers of emotions to these things:

I will feel good when a topic gets generally on something concept-wise to behold

I will feel good too when I am able to receive a truth someone states in judgment too.

I will not really feel great great until I can really run through the whole form from those beginnings and reason a picture that connects everything to “the totality of being” or maybe could be framed as “God in the formal sense?”, but I really get a really really good feeling with this because i think it captures a part of God or something and the senses are taken away by the beauty seen within?

I am not saying these good feelings are to be chased as far as for no purpose (i think that would not be healthy in regards to practicality), but they are useful in the sense that I seem to necessarily need them for daily inspiration in order to keep spiritually connected and assured in life in face of reality.

Could you suggest me a journal where to publish my first article, in order to have a publication before applying to a PhD Programme? It must accept articles from MA students and It can be dedicated to aesthetics/phenomenology/philosophy of literature. I work on phenomenology of literature. I know italian, english and german so feel free to share tips on an international level.

Sartre's quote is often interpreted as a critique of interpersonal relationships. But could it also be about how we internalize the gaze of others and become our own worst critics? How do we navigate the tension between how we see ourselves and how we imagine others see us?

In Ideas I (Routledge version), in two different places, the first in the chapter "Consciousness and Natural Reality", section 43 "Light on a Fundamental Error" and the second in the chapter "Grades of Generality in the Ordering of the Problems of the Theoretic Reason", section 150 "Continuation. The Thing-Region as Transcendental Clue", Husserl suggests that the perception of spatial objects is necessarily perspectival, not just for humans, but for any mind, even God's. In "Light on a Fundamental Error", he bases that view on the idea that, to be otherwise would mean that the object itself would have to be an experience, an immanent object of divine consciousness, not a transcendent object. However, that doesn't seem convincing to me, because for minds that are not confined by three-dimensional spatial positionality or even more so by sensuous perceptual access to transcendent reality, I don't see any reason as to why the transcendence of the object would necessarily involve perspectivity in the perception of it, at least in our understanding of the term. Did he ever revise or retract this claim in later works? From his later works, I have read parts of Experience and Judgement (underrated work of his in my opinion) and parts of Analyses Concerning Passive and Active Synthesis, where he does reference the perspectivity of human perception, without making the claim that it is a necessary element of the givenness of spatial objects.

Hi! I’m a philosophy major currently doing a gender studies minor. For a critical reflection paper that combines both fields, I want to look at approaches to feminist thought (as broad as it gets, gender, sexuality, oppression etc.) from a phenomenological perspective . I’m considering Merleau-Ponty as an entry, given the significance he ascribes to the role of the body. But any suggestions and recommendations on thinkers and literature are very much welcome!

This identity is what I get out of Heidegger, but I am a mere biologist. Discuss, perhaps.

From a philosophical standpoint, how might the integration of phenomenology with psychology challenge existing assumptions about mental health practice? What new philosophical questions or debates does this integration raise about the nature of mental illness?

For you, what are the ethical implications of integrating phenomenological approaches with psychology? How might this integration affect issues of patient autonomy, informed consent, and the therapeutic relationship?

I come from what you’d call a phenomenological Thomist background. While I appreciate Aristotelian metaphysics, I find them deeply lacking when it comes to technology, especially information technology.

What is a web app? Is it a substance on its own? Is it an accident on the hardware? How so?

This is the kind of questions that are leading me back to Husserl and later phenomenologists. Any text suggestion is appreciated!

Hi all. I am currently working with the translation of Dorion Cairns to Husserl's Cartesian Medtiations. Though it is a reasonably clear one (and no doubt precise enough) I wonder if there are better translations which will be preferable to my students.
Thanks!

I’ve been listening to it on YouTube—although I know that he is super controversial. I had to…take a serious pause after hearing the following:

People have become the contemplators of television, they have learned how to switch channels better and faster. Many of them don’t stop at all, they click the remote control and it’s already not important what is on TV – is it actors or news. The spectators of Postmodernity don’t understand anything at all in principle of what is going on. It’s just a stream of impressive pictures. The spectator gets used to microprocesses, he becomes a “subspectator” that watches not the channels or programmes but separate segments, the sequences of programs. In this case the ideal movie is “Spy Kids 2” by Rodriguez. It is made up like there is no any sense. But it is possible to be distracted from this fact because as soon as our consciousness is bothered with it, at the same instant appears a flying pig and we are bounded to watch where is it flying. And likewise when the flying pig bothers us the next moment a little dragon comes out from a pocket of the main character. This work of Rodriguez is perfect.