By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

Phenomenology: Distinctive
Features
&
Alfred Schutz on Phenomenology

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani
 By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

Phenomenology: An Introduction
• It is a branch of philosophy developed by Edmund Husserl.

• It developed on the lines of theorizing done by Alfred Schutz

• It is in fact a philosophical and sociological alternative to Theory of Social

Action. The Social Action theories focused on understanding the causal
factors behind social actions of human beings. It also stated that the
factors behind social actions makes typology of Social Action.
Phenomenology as a branch of academics and theory rejects the notion
that social action can be explained with some set tools.

• Social Action is one of the most observable human behavior which reflects
human emotions and other traits of social living. Interpretation and
explanation of Social Action has been one of the most eye catching era in
sociological theory building. Phenomenology rendered concrete
alternatives to that phase and the related aspects of Social Action Theory.

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani
 By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

Phenomenology: Distinctive Features

• It’s major concern and focus is internal working of human
mind and the way human beings classify and then make
sense of the world around them.

• It does not concern itself with the causal explanation of the

human action. It focuses on the internalities related to the
social action, which of course includes causal explanations
but also encompasses other aspects of actions like causes,
meanings, purposes, impacts, goals and ends and the like.

• It concerns itself with understanding and explaining the

meaning of things and phenomena, rather than knowing
how did they come to existence.

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani
 By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

Conti…
• It is a radical constructionist perspective, which seeks knowledge as
a Social Construct. It believes that knowledge of the meaning given
by human beings to their social action is itself a social construct and
it is not essentially related to one or more set causes.

• It focuses on importance of senses of human beings and it states

that individuals come into contact with the outer world through
their senses like abilities to touch, smell, hear, see, and the like.

• The very link between the human beings and their outer world is an
essential component to be studied. With the senses only human
beings give meaning to the social world around them, which is the
main thrust of phenomenology.

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani
 By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

ALFRED SCHUTZ
ON PHENOMENOLOGY
• His work on phenomenology is known as ‘The Phenomenology of the Social
World’. He is the first one in the records of theory building who emphasizes on
how phenomenology can be used to develop insight to the social world.

• For him the social world is a construct to see which, there is a need of an insight
which human beings develop in the course of the things being followed by them.

• He says that there are ways which human beings use to classify and attach
meaning to the outer world. And all this does not happen in an individual place.
This is a social process.

• he talked of the process of ‘Typification’; which consists of the concepts attached

to the classes of things by human beings. For example: football match, bank
manager, and the like.

• These typifications are not specific to one member byt are socially shared by
members of society.

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani
 By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

Conti…
• The typification is transferred to children with the help of language, written text, reading books.
Imagination perhaps play a big role in creating typification as per this notion.

• People interact, communicate with each other through typification; through the ways they see
things differently. Those meanings are then shared and interpreted.

• This sharing finally results into creating of a stock of knowledge, which he calls ‘Common Sense
Knowledge’ of society.

• This Common Sense is necessary to accomplish essential and practical tasks needed to be done in
society. For example posting letter and the whole process.

• ‘Common Sense Knowledge is not fixed or something unchanging. It is flexible on the basis of the
interaction and experiences of the people in their social world.

• ‘Common Sense Knowledge’ enables humans to understand each other and the meaning given by
them to the social action and other things of the social world.

• This ‘Common Sense Knowledge’ makes people convinced that there is a form of social order and
reality in existence.

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani
 By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

Conclusion
• Studies undertaken by phenomenology extend
the scope of studies of human action. These
attempts go beyond the understanding that only
causes of human actions are crucial to be studied,
rather emphasize on totalitarian aspects of social
understandings.

• The utmost instruments in hands of members of

society are their senses, which enable them to
see the social reality and also make the order
appear in the social world they live in.

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani
 By Dr Jasleen Kewlani

References

• Abraham, Francis, M. 2016. Modern Sociological Theory :An

Introduction. Oxford University Press, London.

• Bottomore, T.B. 2019. Sociology: A Guide to problems and

literature. Routledge. USA.

• Wallace, Ruth, A. and Alison Wolf. 2008. Sociological

Theory: Expanding the Classical Tradition. Contemporary
Pearson, New Delhi.

• Haralambos& Holborn. 2018. Sociology: Themes and

Perspectives 8th Edition. Harper Collins. United Kingdom.

By Dr Jasleen Kewlani