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International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy

Journal | Volume | Article

142267

Phenomenological reflections on the possibility of first philosophy

Nam-In Lee(Seoul National University)

pp. 131-145

Abstract

In this paper, I will examine the possibility of first philosophy from a phenomenological point of view. I will do this by assessing Levinas's criticism of Husserl's conception of first philosophy. In Sect. 1, I will delineate Husserl's conception of first philosophy. In Sect. 2, I will introduce Levinas's conception of ethics as first philosophy and sketch out his criticism of Husserl's conception of first philosophy. In Sect. 3, I will assess Levinas's criticism of Husserl's conception and show that from a phenomenological point of view, it is possible to develop first philosophy only in a relative sense and not in an absolute sense. The possibility of first philosophy in a relative sense implies that both Husserl's and Levinas's conceptions of first philosophy have some limitations and should be revised, since in a certain way, they are each conceived from an absolute point of view. In Sect. 4, I will show that the conception of first philosophy in a relative sense is a phenomenological one and sketch out some basic features of first philosophy in a relative sense.

Publication details

Published in:

(2010) Husserl Studies 26 (2).

Pages: 131-145

DOI: 10.1007/s10743-009-9064-8

Full citation:

Lee Nam-In (2010) „Phenomenological reflections on the possibility of first philosophy“. Husserl Studies 26 (2), 131–145.