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A Landmark Work
I found Apprehending the Inaccessible to a magnificent piece of historical-philosophical and psychoanalytic scholarship. To bring together a comprehensive account of the philosophical ideas that influenced Freud's theorizing, a summary of existential-phenomenological critiques of Freud's metapsychology, a "virtual Freud's" response to his critics, and possible pathways of convergence of psychoanalysis and existential phenomenology--all presented with great rigor and thoroughness and all in one book--constitutes, in my view, a truly remarkable achievement. This book will be of great interest both to philosophically-minded psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically-minded phiilosophers.

--Robert D. Stolorow, Ph.D.
Author, Trauma and Human Existence: Autobiographical, Psychoanalytic, and
Philosophical Reflections ... Read more

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The work of Mikhail Bakhtin does not fall neatly under a single rubric, because its philosophical foundation rests ambivalently between phenomenology and Marxism. The theoretical tension between these two positions creates philosophical impasses in Bakhtin's work, which have been neglected or ignored in previous studies of Bakhtin. Michael Bernard-Donals examines developments in phenomenological and materialist theory, providing a contextualized study of Bakhtin, a critique of the problems of contemporary criticism, and an original contribution to literary theory. ... Read more

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This is the first English translation of one of Heidegger's most important early lecture courses, including his most extensive treatment of the topic of destruction. "Phenomenology of Intuition and Expression" is a crucial text for understanding the early development of Heidegger's thought. This lecture course was presented in the summer semester of 1920 at the University of Freiburg. At the center of this course is Heidegger's elaboration of the meaning and function of the phenomenological destruction. In no other work by Heidegger do we find as comprehensive a treatment of the theme of destruction as in this lecture course. Culminating in a destruction of contemporaneous philosophy in terms of its understanding of 'life' as a primal phenomenon, this lecture course can be seen to open the way towards a renewal of the meaning of philosophy as such. This hugely important philosophical work is now available in English for the first time. ... Read more

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Exploring the first-person narratives of three figures from the Christian, Jewish, and Islamic mystical traditions -- St. Teresa of Avila, Rabbi Dov Baer, and Ruzbihan Baqli -- Anthony J. Steinbock provides a complete phenomenology of mysticism based in the Abrahamic religious traditions. He relates a broad range of religious experiences, or verticality, to philosophical problems of evidence, selfhood, and otherness. From this philosophical description of vertical experience, Steinbock develops a social and cultural critique in terms of idolatry -- as pride, secularism, and fundamentalism -- and suggests that contemporary understandings of human experience must come from a fuller, more open view of religious experience.

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An excellent phenomenological study...
Steinbock is author of _Home and Beyond: Generative Phenomenology after Husserl_ (Northwestern University Press, 1995), translator of Edmund Husserl's _Analyses Concerning Passive and Active Synthesis_ (Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2001) and professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Here he concerns himself with carefully describing one mode of "givenness" that is different from the ways in which objects are "presented" in human experience: epiphany. He successfully traces the "verticality" of experience that gives or yields an experience as "religious." Additionally, Steinbock critically analyzes the obverse of epiphany -- idolatry. Utilizing descriptions of three mystics from the Abrahamic religious traditions, Steinbock thoroughly investigates the problem of evidence. _Phenomenology and Mysticism_ represents the first of a planned trilogy of books, each devoted to a particular mode of vertical experience. The other two volumes are analyses of moral and ecological experience, respectively, investigating the modes of givenness of revelation/manifestation and disclosure/display. In this impressive project, Steinbock embarks on a full explication of three central dimensions of human experience, and in doing so, takes up and embodies the phenomenological project envisioned by Edmund Husserl. I highly recommend this text to professors, scholars, and advanced students in phenomenology, philosophy of religion, and religious studies. ... Read more

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This book begins by drawing attention to the fact that many people acknowledge having had a transcendent experience, namely an event in which they had the impression that they were in contact with something boundless and limitless, which they could not get hold of, and which utterly surpassed human capacities.Prompted by such sociological data, the author endeavours rigorously to show that the human person is open to the infinite.Since transcendent experiences involve an emotional response and an intelligible discovery, he explores both the affective and intellectual sides of this openness and their interrelation.

The first part is phenomenological; the second, a history of great ideas; and the third, philosophy of religion.Part One offers an original account of types and elements of transcendent experiences. It also analyses four narratives.Part Two introduces some of the major classical thinkers of modernity: Kant, Schleiermacher, Hegel, James and Otto, as well as more recent ones such as MarTchal, Rahner, and Lonergan. In this part, there is a fresh reading of these authors' reflections on the human being and the infinite. Part Three makes a contribution to current issues such as experience and interpretation, intentionality and transcendence, the relationship between the infinite and the indefiniteness of the imagination and of reason, directness and mediation, and the role of feelings in religious experience.

The author concludes that the human person is open to an infinite that is real and yet unknown by the human intellect. ... Read more

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A wonderful book
Many people have had transcendent experiences, defined as unusually moving, powerful, and memorable events that lead to the discovery of the absolute mystery behind ordinary reality. People often dismiss the experiences as being of only personal interest and of no lasting significance to their lives. However, they will be unable to dismiss them after reading this book by Louis Roy, a member of the Dominican order and a professor of theology and philosophy at Boston College.

The heart of Roy's book is his elaboration of the six elements that make up the transcendent experience: preparation, occasion, feeling, discovery, interpretation and fruit.

The preparation for a transcendent experience includes all that goes into making us capable of and open to receiving a certain revelation about our existence. The immediate preparation for the transcendent experience is often a feeling of restlessness, alienation, and depression.

The occasion of the transcendent experience may be a scene in nature, a piece of music, a phrase one happens to read, a painting, good news, bad news...almost anything at all.

The next two elements, feeling and discovery, are at the core of the transcendent experience. Simultaneous with an intense feeling of bliss and awe is the discovery of something that seems totally different, wholly other, the transcendent, the infinite, the mystery, or the divine. (Roy avoids the word "God" because it sometimes connotes an object existing in time and space.)

The interpretation which follows the discovery has two stages. In the first stage, we struggle to find words to name our feeling and discovery, and may even question the validity of what has taken place. In the second stage, we struggle to account for the significance of what has happened and to situate it with respect to the rest of our lives. As time goes on and circumstances change, we may slowly modify our interpretation and see our experience in a new light.

The fruit of the transcendent experience is the insight that radically changes our outlook on life. The insight may come as a sudden illumination, but it may take years for this basic insight to make a difference in our thoughts and actions.

Roy concludes his book with the assertion that we can trust our impression of having been touched by the infinite during a transcendent experience if we are willing to cultivate it through prayer, values and truth and to allow it to direct our lives. ... Read more

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Written by a leading expert, this is the ideal guide to Sartre’s most famous work, Being and Nothingness. Anthony Stone explores all the major topics and key themes of Sartre’s work. He introduces:

• Sartre’s life and the background to On Being and Nothingness
• the ideas and text of Being and Nothingness
• the continuing importance of Sartre’s work to philosophy today

Sartre was one of the most important twentieth-century continental philosophers. This book will be essential reading for all students of continental philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology.

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"Simone de Beauvoir'sLe Deuxime Sexe has been studied extensively since its appearance in 1949. Through the years, certain passages have come to be recognized as central; others as unimportant to understanding Beauvoir's argument. In Toward a Phenomenology of Sexual Difference, Sara HeinŠmaa rediscovers those neglected passages in her quest to follow Beauvoir's line of thinking. HeinŠmaa, like some other recent philosophers, finds that Le Duexime Sexe is a philosophical inquiry, not the empirical study that it is commonly thought to be. In making this argument, others have seen Beauvoir's masterpiece as a criticism not only of Sartrean phenomenology, but of the phenomenological movement as a whole. HeinŠmaa thinks differently. She finds that Beauvoir's starting points are in the Husserlian idea of the living body that she found developed in Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenologie de la perception. So when Beavoir wrote Le Duexime Sexe, she was writing not as Sartre's pupil, but as a scholar in the tradition of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty." ... Read more

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This book presents the major philosophical doctrines of phenomenology in a clear, lively style with an abundance of examples. The book examines such phenomena as perception, pictures, imagination, memory, language, and reference, and shows how human thinking arises from experience. It also studies personal identity as established through time and discusses the nature of philosophy. In addition to providing a new interpretation of the correspondence theory of truth, the author also explains how phenomenology differs from both modern and postmodern forms of thinking. ... Read more

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Exceptionally insightful presentation of phenomenology
For anyone versed in realistic philosophy (Aristotelian/Thomistic)this book by Robert Sokolowski should both broaden and deepen their understanding of the basics of first philosophy as well as its very meaning. Sokolowski's presentation of phenomenology is challenging but clear. I certainly recommend the book.Introduction to Phenomenology

Excellent: Intriguing, Clear, and Succinct
As a philosophy graduate student who knew little about phenomenology, I found this introduction fantastic. Phenomenology has the potential to overcome many of the dilemmas of modern philosophy, as Robert Sokolowski clearly and vividly presents. Though not yet convinced, I am eager to read more, a desire any good introduction should instill in its readers. If other protagonists in this philosophical tradition write as simply and as elegantly as Sokolowski, it's prospects are bright indeed...

Outstanding Introduction to Phenomenology
`Introduction to Phenomenology' by Robert Sokolowski is an outstanding introduction to phenomenology, providing an accessible and helpful entry point to this important aspect of continental philosophy.

Unlike some introductory texts which focus on introducing the field's major thinkers and their work, Sokolowski's approach is thematic looking at phenomenology's questions and terminology rather than its historic personages.Readers interested in a more detailed and historically focused introduction to phenomenology may enjoy a series of MP3 audio lectures by John Drabinski's "Between Husserl and Heidegger' (available on-line).

Overall, this is an outstanding introduction to phenomenology; it is clear, concise and helpful. I highly recommend it for all readers new to this subject as well as those that have questions in this area.

Introduction to phenomenology
This book will be just great for introducing my master degree students on very important concepts on Phenomenology, especially intentionality. It will also cope with the hard task of explaining what phenomenology really is. I have used the D'Artigues book for many years, since it is a good one , however Sokolowsky gives e new breath to any one looking for a better understanding of that important philosophic approach to our complex and challenging human world, mainly nowadays due to so many conflicting relationships everywhere.

Bojan
It is not important how many of books regarding phenomenology you have read, this Introduction is much, much more than only introduction. Can help you focused your mind again to the matter. ... Read more

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Explores how continental philosophy can inform environmental ethics. ... Read more

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The Historical Dictionary of Existentialism explains the central claims of existentialist philosophy and the contexts in which it developed into one of the most influential intellectual trends of the 20th century. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and more than 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries offering clear, accessible accounts of the life and thought of major existentialists like Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, Martin Buber, Karl Jaspers, Gabriel Marcel, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, as well as thinkers influential to its development such as Wilhelm Dilthey, Henri Bergson, Edmund Husserl, and Max Scheler. Historical Dictionary of Existentialism affords readers an integrated, critical, and historically-sensitive understanding of this important philosophical movement. ... Read more

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Introduction to Phenomenology is an outstanding and comprehensive guide to an important but often little-understood movement in European philosophy. Dermot Moran lucidly examines the contributions of phenomenology's nine seminal thinkers: Brentano, Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer, Arendt, Levinas, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty and Derrida.

Written in a clear and engaging style, this volume charts the course of the movement from its origins in Husserl to its transformation by Derrida. It describes the thought of Heidegger and Sartre, phenomenology's most famous thinkers, and introduces and assesses the distinctive use of phenomenology by some of its lesser-known exponents, such as Levinas, Arendt and Gadamer. Throughout, the enormous influence of phenomenology on the course of twentieth-century philosophy is thoroughly explored.

Clearly explaining technical terms and avoiding jargon, Introduction to Phenomenology is an indispensable introduction to the history and substance of this vital current in intellectual thought. ... Read more

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Great!
I bought this as a grad student studying Philosophy.I actually became familiar with the topic through a seminar class that focused on Continental Philosophy.I became very interested and bought this book to help put things in perspective from a broad POV, of course.Anyway, this book served me well.It helped me prepare lectures and papers by providing critical surveys of Philosopher's and their associated movements.This works well in giving jumping points for further investigation to help fill in the gaps.A must have in any Phil. library.Also, critical for those who just have an interest in the subject...

Warning! Noemata are attached!
Moran's way-path through phenomenology is truly phenomenal!I say that it is a way-path and not a work because it is not an end in itself, but truly the beginning of an ever continuing/renewing end.It has been extremely helpful as I work my way through phenomenology.

Phenomenology is one of the studies where very few of us have the time and money to work our way through it in its entirety.It is an area of study that invites the scholar to plant his feet in one vantage point, one moment.

The moment in phenomenology that I've chosen is Heidegger, which is, of course, a lifetime of achievement in itself.Part of the difficulty in understanding Heidegger is understanding him in relation others to his teacher (i.e. Husserl), his students (i.e. Gadamer), and, more illicitly, his extramarital lover Hannah Arendt.Obviously, I do not have the time nor funding to study/afford all of these books, let alone give a systematic analysis of these works.So in its place (tentatively), I have picked up Moran's book to help me along my own way-path, specifically Heidegger.What it has enabled me to do, is understand Heidegger in relation to early and late phenomenology.Moran provide a diachronic analysis rather than a synchronic summary, which is surely the preferred method to be consistent with the practice of phenomenology. His book is a wonderful tour guide through this fun themepark known as phenomenology.

Now, I plan to review and read some of these works in relation to Heidegger, but right now my focus and main attention is directed to Heidegger himself.It is for this reason I find this book a helpful compass as I work my way through the many ambiguities of phenomenology at-large and small (and manifestly as they appear as all embracing constitutions in relation to my transcendental ego as it intentions the subject as it is given in the state of affairs of its appearing.)I would recommend this book to anyone that is attempting to set out on a similar endeavor like myself.

I give this book four stars because it is a book that is always/continually "on the way" to phenomenology.It is a book with obvious limitations in that it is a tool towards an end and not an end in itself.In it the author seems to display a strong, but well defended, bias towards Husserl.I believe that there are some parts of this book that could be swelled in accordance with Justice, but, if all this is understood by the reader, then its value is not reduced, but induced.

A Tour de Force
Moran's Introduction to Phenomenology is at once a sweeping history of what some have called the most important philosophical movement of the 20th century, beginning with its fledgling conception in Brentano as the inspiration of Husserl and moving on to French phenomenology, and also an informative guide through the very difficult terrain of the main texts of the aformentioned Brentano and Husserl, in addition to Heidegger, Sartre, Levinas, Arendt, Merleau-Ponty, and Derrida.In clear yet precise prose, Moran explicates the main texts of this movement, and gives the reader a confident grasp of the ideas therein.Special mention should go to Morans's treatment of Husserl, wherein he gives an excellent explication of Husserl's Logical Investigations and Ideas I, that includes constant reference to his influence by, and departure from, Brentano, in addition to the ideas that Heidegger would later use to develop the Heideggarian hermeneutics of Being.It seems that German phenomenology is Moran's specialization, as his treatment of Sartre in particular, but also of Merleau-Ponty, Levinas, and Derrida, are somewhat limited to the early formulations of their thinking. (For example, there is little reference to Sartre's later, but equally important, social/Marxist writings.)Nonetheless, for the beginner--or even the non-beginer for that matter--Moran's presention is more than adequate.

In addition Moran has included a very useful bibliography of untranslated and translated primary sources, as well as secondary sources.Coupled with its expansive index, this book is an equally good reference guide.

Some have made comparisons with Father Robert Sokolowski's equally good "Introduction to Phenomenology."Besides the name and the fact that these books were published around the same time, it is really unfair to compare them; these two excellent scholars of phenomenology have two diffent agendas.Sokolowski simply wants to explain the main thrust of phenomenology in a very clear and useful way, giving his reader an understanding of how to "think" phenomenologically, leading one to do phenomenology, or, at the very least, incorporate basic phenomenological ideas in every-day life.To this extent, it achieves its goal brillianatly.Moran's book is more historical, and perhaps more scholarly and technical.When we compare Sokolowski's book, encompassing around two hundred pages, against Moran's at around five hundred fifty, this should seem evident, but not suggestive of an over-simplification on Sokolowski's part.In fact, I believe that the two books complement one another quite well, and both seem a good start prior to delving into primary material: Moran's for particular tomes, and Sokolowski's for extracting the method of a phenomenologist, or a phenomenology if you will.

Informative, yet easy to understand.
This is the best introductory book to phenomenology because it's somewhat like an encycolpedia of phenomenology and more importantly is that the book is written in colloquial language. Since it's very informative yet easy to understand, it really helps readers in future readings.
The book can also be used as a reference, not only as an introduction.

real good
This is probably the best introduction to the phenomenological movement as a whole in print. For purposes of introduction to the ideas of the major philosophers of the movement, with minimal background information, or just for an overall review ofof the movement for the more informed reader this volume is indispensable.. The background of Husserl's ideas is remarkably well treated, and so is the birth of Heidegger's Being and Time out of a critical appraisal of Husserl. There is a slackening of dynamism and integrity after the Heidegger chapter, but with Derrida, Moran is once again able to bring out the gist and richness of phenomenology. The book not only makes you familiar with the basic concepts involved - noema, noemata, Dasein etc.- but helps cultivate a genuine phenomenological interest in the reader, in line with Heidegger's belief that phenomenology is only possible as something to be practiced, and that this is the real importance it carries as a philosophy.. ... Read more

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Jean-Paul Sartre was one of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. The fourteen original essays in this volume focus on the phenomenological and existentialist writings of the first major phase of his published career, arguing with scholarly precision for their continuing importance to philosophical debate.

Aspects of Sartre’s philosophy under discussion in this volume include:

• Consciousness and self-consciousness
• Imagination and aesthetic experience
• Emotions and other feelings
• Embodiment
• Selfhood and the Other
• Freedom, bad faith, and authenticity
• Literary fiction as philosophical writing

Reading Sartre: on Phenomenology and Existentialism is an indispensable resource for understanding the nature and importance of Sartre’s philosophy. It is essential reading for students of phenomenology, existentialism, ethics, or aesthetics, and for anyone interested in the roots of contemporary thought in twentieth century philosophy.

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This collection of classic issues in Islamic theology and philosophy, authored by young Islamic scholars, is for Islamic and Occidental readers alike. While the questions are classic, these studies are not focused on historical matters. They proceed from the authors’ personal quest, prompted by contemporary concerns as they seek to understand the old themes afresh as relevant to inherited Islamic wisdom. These studies strike us as initiating its contribution to the New Enlightenment, which emerges from the technologico-pragmatic turn of today’s universal situation, loosening its grip. Firstly, by their response to the present day call to revivify metaphysics, benefitting from the evolution of knowledge.

Secondly, the search for renewed Islamic illumination is manifested in our authors’ sharing their reflection in encounters with Occidental thinkers, renewing the precious ties between East and West that were formed in the Middle Ages and then disrupted.

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Karl Jaspers (1883-1969)—"founder of German existentialism" (Martin Heidegger) and "a lucid and flexible intelligence in the service of a genuine and passionate concern for human life" (William Barrett)—is one of the great thinkers of our time. In this compact discussion of Being, Truth, and Reality he presents what for him is the complete philosophy: "the concentration whereby man becomes himself by sharing in reality."

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Fantastic overview of Jaspers' thought
Written between "Philosophie" and "Von der Wahrheit," this slim volume provides a fantastic and surprisingly readable overview of Jaspers' metaphysics. Based on a series of lectures, the text is less technical than Philosophie; however, Jaspers manages to explain the Encompassing, Transcendence, Existenz and Ciphers in moderate detail.

I found Grabau's translation much more lucid than the texts included (for instance) within Walter Kaufmann's "Existentialism from Dostoyevsky to Sartre." Since Grabau's translation of key terms is similar to E. B. Ashton's translation of Philosophie, I have had no trouble going from one to the other.

Overall, I recommend this book for those interested in delving into Jaspers' metaphysics. ... Read more