Phenomenon vs. Phenomenality.Husserl and Natorp against the backdrop of a current debate
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25247/P1982-999X.2025.v25n1.p25-48Keywords:
rationalism, modern technique, metaphysics, dasein.Abstract
Does phenomenology allow us to pave the way for a privileged understanding of phenomena? A glance at the philosophical history of the concept of “phenomenon” suffices to confront us with complex results, not always easy to grasp. We need only mention two: the definitions of what a “phenomenon” is vary considerably both within and outside the phenomenological tradition; the phenomenological understanding of phenomena has been the object, especially since Husserl, of various objections from direct opponents, and continues to be so in the current debate that puts phenomenology to the test of criticism from other philosophical approaches – from analytically inspired philosophy of mind to the so-called cognitive sciences. We will therefore focus on the dialogue between Husserl and Natorp in order to demonstrate the originality of the Husserlian approach, limiting ourselves to Natorp’s critique of the theses expressed in the fifth of the Logische Untersuchungen. These criticisms allow us to articulate a twofold strategy, consisting in a direct confrontation with Husserl’s positions; in an indirect parallel with some of the main arguments we find in the current debate, where, besides the concept of phenomenon, other apparently related concepts appear. The first of these is “phenomenality”, which would indicate the purely subjective character of experience, as opposed to the objective contents that we experience. Our aim is therefore twofold: to formulate the necessary arguments to counter Natorp’s objections by focusing on the Logische Untersuchungen; to defend, in perspective, the specificity of the phenomenological understanding of phenomena in the face of certain alternatives that we find in the current debate.
Downloads
References
ARNAUD, Dewalque; SERON, Denis. Existe-il des phénomènes mentaux? Philosophie, v. CXXIV, n. 1, p. 105-126, 2015.
ARNAUD, Dewalque; SERON, Denis. Les phénomènes. Philosophie, v. CXXIV, n. 1, 2015.
BAYNE, Tim; MONTAGUE, Michelle (ed.). Cognitive phenomenology. New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
BESOLI, Stefano; FERRARI, Massimo; GUIDETTI, Luca (ed.). Neokantismo e fenomenologia. Logica, psicologia, cultura e teoria della conoscenza. Macerata: Quodlibet, 2002.
BODEI, Remo; CANTILLO, Giuseppe; FERRARA, Alessandro; KUROTSCHKA, Gessa; MAFFETTONE, Sebastiano (ed.). Ricostruzione della soggettività. Napoli: Liguori Editore, 2004.
BOUVERESSE, Jacques. Le mythe de l’intériorité. Expérience, signification et langage privé chez Wittgenstein. Paris: Edition de Minuit, 1976.
BRENTANO, Franz. Psychologie vom empirischen standpunkt. 2 Bde. Leipzig: Meiner, 1928.
CHALMERS, David. Facing Up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, v. II, n. 3, p. 200-219, 1995.
CHALMERS, David. Moving Forward on the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, v. IV, n. 1, p. 3-46, 1996.
DASTUR, Françoise. Erscheinung. In: CASSIN, Barbara (ed.). Vocabulaire européeen des philosophies. Paris: Le Robert, 2004. p. 372-377.
DE WARREN, Nicolas; STAITI, Andrea (ed.). New approaches to neo-kantianism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
DRESTKE, Fred. Naturalizing the mind. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995.
DUFOUR, Éric. Paul Natorp. De la psychologie générale à la systématique philosophique. Paris: Vrin, 2010.
FERARRI, Massimo; GIGLIOTTI, Gianna. Paul Natorp tra Husserl et Kant. Scritti 1887-1914. Firenze: Le Lettere, 2011.
HOLZHEY, Helmut. Zu den Sachen selbst! Über das Verhältnis von Phänomenologie und Neukantianismus. In: HERZOG, Max; GRAUMANN, Carl F. Sinn und Erfahrung: phänomenologische Methoden in den Humanwissenschaften, Hrsg. Heidelberg: Springer, 1991. p. 3-21.
HUSSERL, Edmund. Die Idee der Phänomenologie. Fünf Vorlesungen. In: Hua II. Dordrecht-Boston-London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1950.
HUSSERL, Edmund. Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie. Erstes Buch: Allgemeine Einführung in die reinen Phänomenologie. In: Hua III/1. Den Haag: M. Nijhoff, 1976. Tradução: Márcio Suzuki. Idéias para uma fenomenologia pura e para uma filosofia fenomenológica. Introdução geral à fenomenologia pura. São Paulo: Idéias & Letras, 2006.
HUSSERL, Edmund. Logische Untersuchungen. In: Hua XIX/1. Dordrecht-Boston-London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1984. Tradução: P. Alves e C. Morujão. Investigações lógicas. Segundo Volume, Parte I: Investigações para a fenomenologia e a teoria do conhecimento. Lisboa: CFLUL, 2007.
HUSSERL, Edmund. Einführung in die Phänomenologie der Erkenntnis. Vorlesung 1909. In: Hua Materialien, Bd. VII, hrsg. von E. Schuhmann, Kluwer. Dordrecht-Boston-London: Kluwer Academic Publishers: 2005.
KERN, Iso. Husserl und Kant. Eine Untersuchung über Husserls Verhältnis zu Kant und zum Neukantianismus. Den Haag: Nijhoff, 1964.
KUROTSCHKA, Gessa. La questione dell’irriducibilità della coscienza. In: BODEI, Remo, CANTILLO, Giuseppe; FERRARA, Alessandro; KUROTSCHKA, Gessa; MAFFETTONE, Sebastiano (ed.). Ricostruzione della soggettività. Napoli: Liguori Editore, 2004. p. 3-32.
LEVINE, Jospeh. Materialism and Qualia: The Explanatory Gap. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, v. LXIV, n. 4, p. 354-361, 1983.
LUFT, Sebastian. Natorp, Husserl und das Problem der Kontinuität zwischen Leben, Wissenschaft und Philosophie. Phänomenologische Forschungen, v. VI, p. 97-133, 2006.
LUFT, Sebastian. Reconstruction and Reduction: Natorp and Husserl on Method and the Question of Subjectivity. In: MAKKREEL, Rudolf A.; LUFT, Sebastian (ed.). Neo-Kantianism in Contemporary Philosophy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2009. p. 59-91.
LUFT, Sebastian. Einleitung. In: P. Natorp. Allgemeine psychologie nach kritischer Methode. Darmstadt: WBG Academic, 2013. p. XI-XXXVIII.
MOORE, Georg Edward. The Refutation of Idealism. In: Philosophical studies, p. 1-30. Kegan Paul, 1922.
NAGEL, Thomas. What is it Like to be a Bat. The Philosophical Review, v. LXXXIII, n. 4, p. 435-450, 1974.
NATORP, Paul. Über objective und subjective Begründung der Erkenntnis. Philosophische Monatshefte, v. XXIII, p. 257-286, 1887.
NATORP, Paul. Einleitung in die psychologie nach kritischer methode. Freiburg i.B.: J.C.B. Mohr, 1888.
NATORP, Paul. Allgemeine psychologie nach kritischer methode. Erstes Buch. Objekt und Methode der Psychologie. Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1912.
PORTA, Mario A. G. Brentano y Natorp (Intentionalität y Bewusstheit). Revista Philosophica, v. 30, p. 103-126, 2006.
SELLARS, Wilfrid. Empiricism and the Philosophy of Mind. In: FEIGL, H.; SCRIVEN, M. (ed.). Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science. The foundations of science and the concept of psychology and psychoanalysis, v. I. University of Minnesota Press: 1956. p. 253-329.
SERON, Denis. Existe-il des phénomènes mentaux? Philosophie, v. CXXIV, no. 1, p. 105-126, 2015.
SERON, Denis. La critique de la psychologie de Natorp dans la Ve Recherche logique de Husserl. Érudit, v. XXXVI, n. 2, p. 533-558, 2009.
SHAUN, Gallagher; ZAHAVI, Dan (ed.). The phenomenological mind. An introduction to philosophy of mind and cognitive science. London/New York: Routledge, 2008.
SIEWERT, Charles. Is Experience Transparent. Philosophical Studies, v. CXVII, n. 1-2, p. 15-41, 2004.
TYE, Michael. Ten problems of onsciousness. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995.
ZAHAVI, Dan. How to Investigate Subjectivity: Natorp and Heidegger on Reflection. Continental Philosophy Review, v. XXXVI, n. 2, p.155-176, 2003.
ZAHAVI, Dan. Intentionality and phenomenality: a phenomenological take on the hard problem. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, v. XXIX, p. 63-92, 2003.
ZAHAVI, Dan. Introduction: Subjectivity in the Center or Back to Basics. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, v. III, n. 3, p. 229-234, 2004.
ZAHAVI, Dan. Phenomenology and the project of naturalization. Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, v. III, n. 4, p. 331-347, 2004.
ZAHAVI, Dan. Internalism and externalism in phenomenological perspective. Synthese, v. CLX, n. 3, p. 309-312, 2008.
ZAHAVI, Dan. Intentionnalité et phénoménalité: un regard phénoménologique sur le “problème difficile”. Philosophie, v. CXXIV, n. 1, p. 80-104, 2015.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Emanuele Mariani

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.