Summary
Phenomenology is a plural concept, and different phenomenologists have different definitions of phenomenology. But as Edmund Husserl is the initiator of the phenomenological movement or the founder of the phenomenological school, understanding his definition of phenomenology is the starting point and benchmark for our understanding of phenomenology. Husserl's phenomenology is a philosophy of consciousness or essential science that systematically studies the essential characteristics and the basic structure of consciousness, the relationship between consciousness and self, others and the world in the first person. Intentionality is the core concept of Husserl's phenomenology, and suspension, reduction and intuition constitute its most basic method. Husserl's phenomenology of consciousness shares many common concepts and topics such as consciousness, intentionality, and perception with contemporary philosophy of mind, but there are also fundamental differences and opposition. This lecture focuses on the following three issues.
(1) The definition of phenomenology;
(2) Methodology of phenomenology;
(3) The theory of intentionality in phenomenology.