PREFINALS: PHENOMENOLOGY  Rigorous science – it means a strict application of
scientific method to ensure unbiased and well-
 In Phenomenology - truth is based on the person’s
consciousness
 In Existentialism - truth is based on person’s
exercising freedom and personal choices
 Postmodernism - accepting that truth is not absolute
 Logic - truth is based on reasoning and critical
thinking
 Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804) and George Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1831) both used the term
“phenomenology” in their work.
PHENOMENOLOGY
 The reflective study of how things appear to our
conscious awareness
 how the world appears to us in terms of our
subjective experience
 The ultimate source of all meaning and value is the
lived experience of beings.
 Lived experience = Recollection of experiences that
took place over time + knowledge that you gain out
of these experiences.
 Philosophical movement originating in the 20th
century
 Philosophy of experience
 Objective – to provide a direct investigation and
description of phenomena as consciously
experienced. Without theories about their casual
explanation and as free as possible from unexamined
preconception and presupposition.
---> Greek term: Phainomenon = appearance/s,
Logos = study
---> the study of phenomenon or anything that exist of
which is the mind is conscious.
---> is the careful investigation of the essence or nature of
material things or things that appear to us, that which we
are conscious of.
---> focuses on consciousness, objects, subjective
experience
---> Phenomenology is about grounding our world in an
understanding of consciousness, experience and the life-
world.
 Edmund Husserl described phenomenology
as “a rigorous science” by returning his attention “to the
things themselves.”
controlled experimental design
TWO VARIANTS
PURE PHENOMENOLOGY
 Transcendental Phenomenology
 Edmund Husserl’s Project
EXISTENTIAL PHENOMENOLOGY
 other later thinker’s project
 A philosophy of subjectivity/selfhood, whose
fundamental doctrine proclaim man’s freedom in the
accomplishment of his destiny and whose principal
method is consequently that of description or
phenomenology
TWO VARIANTS OF HUSSERLIAN PHENOMENOLOGY
STATIC PHENOMENOLOGY (EARLIER HUSSERL)
 Analyzes how things appear to consciousness in
terms of their static, unchanging perceptual
properties.
 fixed intentional relation between an act and an
object
 Confined to a certain domain of experience
 i.e., not taking into account
GENETIC PHENOMENOLOGY (LATER HUSSERL)
 Analyzes how things appear to consciousness in
terms of how they emerge into our conscious
awareness over time.
 Attempt to explore the origin and history of this
process in any given set of experience.
 i.e., taking time into account
NATURAL ATTITUDE
 walang pake
 “I take reality for granted and don’t question it.”
---> natural reality: take for granted
PHENOMENOLOGICAL ATTITUDE
 hihinto ka muna para makita o mag-isip sa mga
bagay-bagay
 Bracketing our belief in the natural attitude, and
focusing on our experience of reality.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL REDUCTION
 using the epoche help us inquire into the nature of
reality from the standpoint of the
“Phenomenological Attitude” (I.e., in terms of our
subjective experience)
 enables us to assume a phenomenological attitude
 we know and understand the essence or meaning of
things as they appear to us
EPOCHE (SUSPENSION)
 it helps us focus on consciousness by marking out
the perimeter of everything that’s part of the natural
attitude
 to observe/investigate an object/case, we need to
suspend our biases first.
 suspension of what we know to look for further
inquiries (bracketing)
---> when we start to notice how were actually
experiencing things… things cans seem very different
from how we usually take them for granted.
---> For instance… From the standpoint of the Natural
Attitude, a minute of time is simply a minute of time. But
from the Phenomenological standpoint, a minute of time
depends upon how we experience it.
---> The meaning of things varies quite a bit, depending
whether we’re seeing them from the Natural Attitude or
from the Phenomenological Attitude.
EIDOS (ESSENCE)
 The features of our experience that are both
necessary and invariant
EIDETIC
 A way of understanding the essence of some
experience
 Finding the meaning of the experience
---> Reduction – the procedure by which we are placed in
a “transcendental sphere”
---> Transcendental sphere – sphere in which we can see
things as they really are independent of any prejudice
INTENTIONALITY
 Consciousness is “intentional”
 means two things:
 Consciousness is actional (act of knowing)
- consciousness is always doing something
 Consciousness is referential (the external world)
- consciousness is always pointing to something
"NOEMA”
 The dream to which the dreaming is referring
 Plural: “Noemata”
 Adjective: “Noematic”
"NOESIS”
 The actual activity of dreaming
 Plural: “Noeses”
 Adjective: “Noetic”
PHENOMENOLOGY
---> phenomenology <---> consciousness
---> importante na dapat gising ang “kamalayan”
---> Phenomenology: method of finding the truth
knowledge and wisdom
---> important to have a unique experience
---> the key to understand something, is to have intention
---> Edmund Husserl - kailangan gising ang kamalayan
ex.: Sa pag-aaral, kapag gusto matuto, dapat
bukas ang iyong kamalayan at may intensyon
kang matuto
---> meanings <---> consciousness
---> content & consciousness - science disregards the
content of our consciousness. We are not only after the
experience, but also the meanings
---> from the outside, going back to the inside
---> Why do we need to learn this?
- to bracket our biases, our natural attitude, to
avoid generalizing.
- remove first all biases, before you look at
something
EXISTENTIALISM
 Is the philosophy that holds your existence as your
pre-eminent truth and reality
 Finding meaning of his/her existence but still have
responsibilities.
 A complex philosophy emphasizing the absurdity of
reality and the human responsibility to make choices
and accept consequences.
---> “authenticity” - be authentic, you must real, true to
self
---> existentialism - human freedom
---> existentialism is more of an outlook (pananaw) of one
person
---> existentialism says there is nothing that explains,
guides or gives purpose to our existence. In short — you
exist (have “being”) in total freedom surrounded by
nothingness.
---> “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.” -
Jean Paul Sartre
EXISTENTIALISM IN MAIN THEMES
WE ARE FREE
 You are free to be the person that you choose.
 The freedom coming from our own within.
OUR EXISTENCE IS ABSURD
 This means that we can give no logical sense or
purpose to life — there is none to be found.
TRUTH IS SUBJECTIVE
 This means that what is true for one person might
not be true for another.
 walang magdidikta sayo, ikaw mismo
EXISTENCE PRECEDES ESSENCE
 Cogito ergo sum
 Existentialism is the title of the set of philosophical
ideals that emphasize the existence of the human
being, the lack of meaning and purpose in life, and
the solitude of human existence… “Existence
precedes essence” implies that the human being has
no essence (no essential self).
ABSURDISM
 The belief that nothing can explain or rationalize
human existence.
 There is no answer to “Why am I?”
 Humans exist in a meaningless, irrational universe
and any search for order will bring them into direct
conflict with this universe.
CHOICE AND COMMITMENT
 Humans have freedom to choose.
 Each individual makes choices that create his or her
own nature.
 Because we choose, we must accept risk and
responsibility for wherever our commitments take
us.
 “A human being is absolutely free and absolutely
responsible. Anguish is the result.” - Jean Paul Sartre
DREAD AND AXIETY
 Dread is a feeling of general apprehension.
Kierkegaard interpreted it as God’s way of calling
each individual to make a commitment to a
personally valid way of life.
 Anxiety stems from our understanding and
recognition of the total freedom of choice that
confronts us every moment, and the individual’s
confrontation with nothingness.
NOTHINGNESS AND DEATH
 Death hangs over all of us. Our awareness of it can
bring freedom or anguish.
 I am my own existence. Nothing structures my world.
 “Nothingness is our inherent lack of self. We are in
constant pursuit of a self. Nothingness is the creative
well-spring from which all human possibilities can be
realized.” - Jean Paul Sartre
ALIENATION OR ESTRANGEMENT
 From all other humans
 From human institutions
 From the past
 From the future
 We only exist right now, right here.
SOME FAMOUS EXISTENTIALISTS
 Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)
 Albert Camus (1913-1960)
 Albert Camus dissociated himself from the
existentialists but acknowledged man’s lonely
condition in the universe. His “man of the absurd”
(or absurd hero) rejects despair and commits himself
to the anguish and responsibility of living as best he
can.
 Basically, man creates himself through the choices
he makes. The are no guides for these choices, but
he has to make them anyway, which renders life
absurd.
---> Albert Camus - wrote “The Stranger”
- “this world is full of absurdity…”
---> nihilism (nothingness) - punong-puno ng kawalan
---> humans exist in a meaningless, irrational universe
---> live life to the fullest, so you won’t have any regrets.”
---> our obligation to find our meaning
---> “discover” - it is up to us to discover
---> “take responsibility” - take charge
---> “we found meaning in this world, through serving
others.”
EXISTENTIAL MOMENT
 Puberty - selfhood - place in world
 Realize self
 Responsibility is ours, can’t rely on anyone else to
take responsibility for us.
 METAPHYSICS
- Existence Precedes Essence
- Throw into meaningless world
- Find our own meaning
 REALITY
- Final reality resides within you
- You are the center of your own universe
- Reality lies within you
- You are in charge
- Reality is centered in yourself
---> Choice making and freedom: plan what you want to
become, but must consider
---> to define something is to limit something.
WHAT IS EXISTENTIALISM?
 Existentialism is not a branch of philosophy
 Existentialism is a philosophical movement formally
initiated by the Danish philosopher Soren
Kierkegaard during the second half of the 19th
century
 was developed and popularized by the famous
French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre during the
post-war period
 many scholars lately almost equate the term
existentialism with the name “Sartre”
 there is not a single universally accepted definition of
the term existentialism as many existential
philosophers view it from different vantage points
 the famous German existential philosopher Martin
Heidegger intentionally avoided the use of the term
Existentialism. Heidegger prefers the term Existential
Philosophy over Existentialism.
 The least that we can do to understand this
philosophical movement is simply to describe it
rather than define. As we may already know to
define something is to limit something.
 Since existentialism cannot be limited to one
absolute understanding, we can only describe it.
 Taking from the root word “Existence”,
Existentialism is generally considered as a philosophy
of life
 It is generally considered as the philosophy of the
meaning of life
 Existentialism stresses the individual's unique
position as a self-determining agent responsible for
making meaningful, authentic choices
 Existentialism is characterized by its concern with
individual existence, freedom, and choice
 Existentialism's emphasis on the idea of a meaningful
life or meaningful existence suggests that life as it
appears and experienced is characterized by
absurdity.
 Philosophically speaking: the term “absurd” refers to
“the conflict between the human tendency to seek
inherent value and meaning in life and the human
inability to find any in a purposeless, meaningless or
chaotic and irrational universe.”
 What is common among different brands of
existential philosophy is the view that: “life is
absurd”
 It seemingly appears to be meaningless, purposeless
 Despite the fact that life appears to be absurd,
existential philosophers believe that humans can
make rational decisions and eventually define their
own meaning in life.
 For the existential philosophers: one of the best
ways to make life meaningful is to embrace it despite
the absurdities it harbors
 The existential attitude is expressed most visibly in
Friedrich Nietzsche's notion of “Amor Farti” or “the
love of one's fate”
 which is also understood as a resolute enthusiastic
acceptance of everything that has happened in one's
life
 Existentialism is the idea of the absurd life in an
irrational world yet humans are entirely free to make
choices and decide to rise above these essentially
absurd condition of humanity