Husserl's Phenomenology
Why is phenomenology such an important branch of philosophical thought in terms of understanding media and its social, political, and technological impact?
Phenomenology is the philosophical thought that focuses on the structure of subjective human consciousness. This philosophical movement was founded by Edmund Husserl who “wants to describe our experiences as they are given from a first person perspective” (Zahavi, 2003, p.13). Husserl describes the conception of reality in 3 parts. Firstly there’s the world and its external beings, this being the world around us made up of other things and other people. Secondly we have ourselves, and thirdly we have our subjective consciousness, the way we perceive the world around us. Husserl divides phenomenology into two parts, the noesis and the noema, the noesis being the part of an experience which explains the activity, be it an emotion, perception, judgement, or imagination. The second part is the noema, which is the way we perceive the experience, our own meaning of it, the way we conceive it.
This study can be differentiated from Kant’s method of analysis which focuses on reality consisting of objects and events as they are understood by subjective human consciousness. The two main divisions of Kantian phenomenology are the noumena and the phenomena. The noumena are things independent of the mind; an object or event that exists without the use of human senses, while the phenomena are any observable occurrences. Kant theorises that what we experience through our senses questions what roles we play in terms of truth and reality.
Both Kant’s and Husserl’s interpretation of phenomenology are important branches of philosophical thought when understanding media and it’s social, political, and technological impact.
The political impact that media has is stretched further than the democracy of governments. The politics that media focuses on can vary from contestants on a television show to the Presidential debates
Phenomenology is the philosophical thought that focuses on the structure of subjective human consciousness. This philosophical movement was founded by Edmund Husserl who “wants to describe our experiences as they are given from a first person perspective” (Zahavi, 2003, p.13). Husserl describes the conception of reality in 3 parts. Firstly there’s the world and its external beings, this being the world around us made up of other things and other people. Secondly we have ourselves, and thirdly we have our subjective consciousness, the way we perceive the world around us. Husserl divides phenomenology into two parts, the noesis and the noema, the noesis being the part of an experience which explains the activity, be it an emotion, perception, judgement, or imagination. The second part is the noema, which is the way we perceive the experience, our own meaning of it, the way we conceive it.
This study can be differentiated from Kant’s method of analysis which focuses on reality consisting of objects and events as they are understood by subjective human consciousness. The two main divisions of Kantian phenomenology are the noumena and the phenomena. The noumena are things independent of the mind; an object or event that exists without the use of human senses, while the phenomena are any observable occurrences. Kant theorises that what we experience through our senses questions what roles we play in terms of truth and reality.
Both Kant’s and Husserl’s interpretation of phenomenology are important branches of philosophical thought when understanding media and it’s social, political, and technological impact.
The political impact that media has is stretched further than the democracy of governments. The politics that media focuses on can vary from contestants on a television show to the Presidential debates