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The University Years
In June of 1876, Edmund Husserl graduated from the Deutsches Staatsgymnasium in Olomouc, Czech Republic, and informed classmates that he intended to study astronomy at university. He began his college career at the University of Leipzig, but in 1878, he moved to Berlin, where he attended the lectures of mathematician Karl Weierstrass, who, according to Moran, instilled in the young Husserl the 'ethos for scientific striving.' Husserl earned his doctoral degree in 1882. -
Philosophy- Brentano's Inspiration
Edmund Husserl sought to do for philosophy what Karl Weierstrass had done for mathematics, and that is to set it on a single foundation (Moran). On Franz Brentano, Husserl said, "Brentano's lectures gave me for the first time the conviction that encouraged me to choose philosophy as my life's work, the conviction that philosophy too was a serious discipline which also could be and must be dealt with in the spirit of the strictest science." -
Logical Investigations
In 1900-1901, Edmund Husserl published his first phenomenological work titled 'Logical Investigations.' It consisted of two volumes, the first of which contained a forceful attack against psychologism. Over the first half of the 20th Century, Husserl modified his method into what he called 'transcendental phenomenology,' which is the study of the world as we immediately experience it directly or before reflection (Beyer). -
Developing Phenomenology (1916-1928)
On April 1, 1916, Husserl took up the Chair of Philosophy at Freiburg, a center of Neo-Kantianism*, where he worked to develop a new following, having lost many previous followers and students to the war. On May 3, 1917, he gave his inaugural lecture, 'Pure Phenomenology: Its Research Domain and Method.' Phenomenology is a scientific approach that concentrates on the study of consciousness and the objects of direct experience. https://youtu.be/4D8RSnX90yU -
Husserl in Nazi Germany
In September 1935, Edmund Husserl, in spite of his preventative efforts, lost both his teaching license and his German citizenship. He was also refused a place on the official delegation of German philosophers and was banned from publishing any further works in Germany. The National Socialists denounced Husserl's philosophy for promoting an ideal of universal rationality for all men, including Jews and Negroes. Husserl went into isolation for years, but continued his work in private.
