Call for papers: "The Great Phenomenological Schism: Reactions to Husserl's Transcendental Idealism"

The North American Society for Early Phenomenology
The Great Phenomenological Schism: Reactions to Husserl’s Transcendental Idealism

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City
June 3-6th, 2015

Keynote speakers:
Hanne Jacobs (Loyola University, Chicago)
Burt Hopkins (Seattle University)

Workshops with:
Sebastian Luft (Marquette University)
Antonio Zirión (UNAM)

The second schism in phenomenology, Husserl’s confrontation with Heidegger and the emergence of existential phenomenology, is well known among philosophers. However, the first schism, what we call here the Great Phenomenological schism, is far less understood. Between 1905 and 1913, Husserl’s phenomenology underwent an important transformation, as we see in documents such as his Seefeld manuscripts, the five lectures on The Idea of Phenomenology, and Ideas I. Husserl’s phenomenology began as a form of descriptive psychology, but after the discovery of the phenomenological reduction and a serious re- reading of Kant, it developed into a form of transcendental idealism. This change baffled many of Husserl’s students, and drew the ire of some of his contemporaries – creating a division between the transcendental and the realist phenomenologists. This is presumably the distinction Husserl had in mind when he told Dietrich von Hildebrand that he divided his followers into two groups: the white sheep and the black sheep. Following Husserl’s move to Freiburg, divisions among the early phenomenologists became firmly entrenched.

The theme of this conference will be the reaction to Husserl’s transcendental turn, both by his students and his contemporaries, as well as Husserl’s attempts to respond to the criticisms of his transcendental phenomenology. Topics would include the realism/idealism debate among the early phenomenologists, criticisms of the idea of phenomenological reflection and the reductions, the argument for existence of the transcendental ego, the problem of the external world, the justification of the intentionality thesis, the relationship between Husserl’s phenomenology and idealism, discussions of transcendental philosophy in Husserl’s lecture courses and manuscripts from 1905-23, etc. We strongly encourage papers documenting the criticisms of Husserl put forward by Adolf Reinach, Max Scheler, Carl Stumpf, Edith Stein, Roman Ingarden, Johannes Daubert, Maximilian Beck, and other members of the Göttingen and Munich Circles. We are also interested in the reactions of Husserl’s early Freiburg students, many of whom only engaged Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology after the First World War. Finally, papers on early students who followed Husserl’s transcendental turn and defended Ideas I against its detractors, are also welcomed.

Abstracts should be 400-600 words, and include a short bibliography. All abstracts must be prepared for blind review and sent via email in .doc or .rtf format to Dr. Rodney K.B. Parker (rodney.k.b.parker@gmail.com)

Both senior researchers and graduate students are encouraged to submit.
Deadline for submissions is February 20th, 2015.

Decisions will be sent out no later than March, 16th, 2015

Organizers – Rodney Parker, Ignacio Quepons, and Jethro Bravo Hosts – Antonio Zirión and Seminario de Estudios Básicos de Fenomenología Trascendental.