The Triumph of Subjectivity - 2nd Edition by Quentin Lauer

Book Synopsis

"A clear summary of Husserl's often obscure and always complex writings. . . . very instructive."-Ethics

Review Quotes

A clear summary of Husserl's often obscure and always complex writings. . . . very instructive.-- "Ethics"

Husserl's basic phenomenological method and techniques, his notion of the intentionality of consciousness, and his reformulation of the meaning of 'Subject' and 'Object' are elucidated in this admirably clear, well-documented study.-- "Review of Metaphysics"

If there is any one man who is at the source of the current in contemporary philosophy which is the opposite of logical analysis, it is certainly Edmund Husserl. There is little doubt that his formative influence is far more important, than say, that of Kierkegaard, in the problematic existentialism. And the frequency of the term 'phenomenology' in writings on aesthetics, ethics, social philosophy, and a host of other disciplines is an indication of the more or less vague sense of the original contribution which he made to modern thought. Yet there is an underlying paradox here: for it is logical analysis which appears to bear the banner of rationality and precision thinking, while many philosophers who derive more directly from Husserl seem to be grappling in a twilight region with the elusive meaning of human existence. But it was Husserl pre-eminently in our age who attempted to establish philosophy on a scientific basis through a rigorous analysis of logical categories and a theory of knowledge. Anyone who attempts to understand this tension in a modern thought would do well to examine Husserl closely (to say nothing of understanding 'existentialism, ' where such a study is indispensable). Lauer's book is thus doubly welcome, first because of the paucity of studies of Husserl's life work in any language...Second, because of the author's preparation: he has published two volumes in French on Husserl...Further, he has consulted the unpublished manuscripts...which contain far more than Husserl ever published...It is an excellent introduction to a very important figure who is almost unknown in the English-speaking world.-- "Philosophical Studies"

About the Author

Quentin Lauer S. J. was a Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University from 1954 to 1990. He was an American Jesuit priest and a philosopher. He was president of the Eastern Division of the American Philosophical Association from 1985-1986, and a President of the Hegel Society of America. He was also a major influence in the introduction of Hegel's thought in the United States. His publications include A Reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit (1977), The Triumph of Subjectivity (1958) and Edmund Husserl: Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy (1965).