Existential phenomenology is a philosophical current inspired by Martin Heidegger's 1927 work Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) and influenced by the existential work of Søren Kierkegaard and the phenomenological work of Edmund Husserl.
In contrast with his former mentor Husserl, Heidegger put ontology before epistemology and thought that phenomenology would have to be based on an observation and analysis of Dasein ("being-there"), human being, investigating the fundamental ontology of the Lebenswelt (Lifeworld - Husserl's term) underlying all so-called regional ontologies of the special sciences. In contrast with the philosopher Kierkegaard, Heidegger wanted to explore the problem of Dasein existentially (existenzial), rather than existentielly (existenziell) because Heidegger argued Kierkegaard had already described the latter with "penetrating fashion".
Read more about Existential Phenomenology: Development of Existential Phenomenology, Other Disciplines
Famous quotes containing the word existential:
“One of the most horrible, yet most important, discoveries of our age has been that, if you really wish to destroy a person and turn him into an automaton, the surest method is not physical torture, in the strict sense, but simply to keep him awake, i.e., in an existential relation to life without intermission.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)