Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology [Paperback]

Edmund Husserl (Author), Dorion Cairns (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 31, 1977 | ISBN-10: 902470068X | ISBN-13: 978-9024700684 | Edition: 1

     The "Cartesian Meditations" translation is based primarily on the printed text, edited by Professor S. Strasser and published in the first volume of Husserliana: Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge, ISBN 90-247-0214-3. Most of Husserl's emendations, as given in the Appendix to that volume, have been treated as if they were part of the text. The others have been translated in footnotes.
     Secondary consideration has been given to a typescript (cited as "Typescript C") on which Husserl wrote in 1933: "Cartes. Meditationen / Originaltext 1929 / E. Husserl / für Dorion Cairns". Its use of emphasis and quotation marks conforms more closely to Husserl’s practice, as exemplified in works published during his lifetime. In this respect the translation usually follows Typescript C. Moreover, some of the variant readings n this typescript are preferable and have been used as the basis for the translation. Where that is the case, the published text is given or translated in a foornote.
     The published text and Typescript C have been compared with the French translation by Gabrielle Pfeiffer and Emmanuel Levinas (Paris, Armand Collin, 1931). The use of emphasis and quotation marks in the French translation corresponds more closely to that in Typescript C than to that in the published text. Often, where the wording of the published text and that of Typescript C differ, the French translation indicates that it was based on a text that corresponded more closely to one or the other – usually to Typescript C. In such cases the French translation has been quoted or cited in a foornote.

Product Details

• Paperback: 157 pages
• Publisher: Martinus Nijhoff Pub.; 1 edition (July 31, 1977)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 902470068X
• ISBN-13: 978-9024700684
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #234,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction, June 21, 2007

By 

Keith Bridge - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology (Paperback)

The Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology was written by Edmund Husserl (the founder of phenomenology). This means the book is not muddled by the need to reconcile conflicting views on what phenomenology is according to various philosophers, like in commentaries. Also, many commentaries follow Sartre's, Heidegger's (as found in Being and Time) and Merleau-Ponty's human conciseness centered phenomenology leaving Husserl's phenomenology as a footnote. Being that Husserl's phenomenology is underrepresented in secondary sources, it is necessary to read Husserl's own writings. Cartesian Meditations offers a full understanding of Husserl's philosophy. The only other source for this is Husserl's Ideas Pertaining to Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy, which is spilt in to three volumes and is around 900 pages. Ideas... is not only long, but it gives the reader a distinct feeling that many of the sections are dead ends and could have been edited out. Cartesian Meditations, on the other hand, is concise. Also, the book is easier to understand because the structure is similar to Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy. However, one should not think Husserl super-imposed his philosophy on Descartes'. In Cartesian Meditations, Husserl only made the similarities that could already be found in Ideas... explicit to help introduce Phenomenology to a larger audience though a familiar median. Even though the book was written as an introduction (as the title indicates), the audience need not be novice of Phenomenology. People who have read Ideas... cover to cover can still appreciate the book because it contains only what is essential to Husserl's Phenomenology, unlike Ideas..., which according to Husserl contains "imperfections". Cartesian Meditations makes one of the most influential twentieth century thinkers accessible.

23 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Introduction To Phenomenology, November 4, 1999

By 

Randy LeJeune - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology (Paperback)

This little book is an excellent introduction to Husserl's phenomenology. He outlines his idea of the intentionality of consciousness via the "transcendental ego". If Sartre had paid more attention to this, his outlook wouldn't have been so pessimistic.

Caveat: This book is hard reading -- it's not really for the newcomer to philosophy and Husserl's toxic and dense style will probably put off all but the determined.

19 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Too transcendental?, August 18, 2001

By 

Anthony L. Macri, Jr. (Ashburn, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology (Paperback)

Don't get me wrong, Husserl's contribution to post-modern philosophy is impossible to ignore. However, his constant beating of the transcendental horse is even more annoying then the Catholic theologian Karl Rahner's! At least with Rahner, you can expect man's transcedence toward God... with Husserl, it is a transcendence toward the self by the epoche - the "bracketting" - of the world and the retreat into the self. While the ideas are immensely important, they are more valuable as a transitional piece from the work of Descartes toward the work of Heidegger, Sartre, and others than they are on their own. An ego-pole? How is a pole, as Sartre would say, not simply a thing of the world? Husserl seems wed to the idea that the mind is constitutive of the world around us, and thankfully post-modern philosophy has not devoted itself entirely to that idea.

Perhaps it is the translation, but the work is hard to read, and you would be better to borrow it from a library then to spend the [price] on a 80 page book.

Still, it gets 3 stars. why? because it is so important. The work of Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and even Rahner would not be possible without this work by Husserl. He is a bridge thinker - now that we've crossed the river maybe occasionally we can look back at his thought for its worth but we don't have to spend any more time on that bridge.