Durham E-Theses Descartes, Husserl and radical conversion MacDonald, Paul S. How to cite: MacDonald, Paul S. (1996) Descartes, Husserl and radical conversion, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/5244/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk DESCARTES, HUSSERL AND RADICAL CONVERSION Paul S. MacDonald Phenomenology has been one of the most influential and far-reaching developments in 20th Centur>' Philosophy and has had a great impact on the disciplines of philosophy of logic and math, theory of knowledge, and theory of meaning. The most profound influence on Edmund Husserl (1859 - 1938), the founder of phenomenology, was Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650), whose radical rethinking of philosophy's overall project provided Husserl with both the historical and conceptual point of departure for his foundation of prima philosophia. Despite this explicit and well-known influence, there is no book- length study of their thematic parallels; numerous journal articles focus almost entirely on the phenomenological reduction and, aside from this, are fairly unsatisfactorv . The purpose of the present work is to elucidate systematic convergences (and divergences) between Descartes and Husserl throughout their respective philosophical developments. This comprises explication of several central topics: 1. The parallel between 17th C. skepticism, which Descartes attempted to overthrow, and 19th C. ps>'chologism and relativism, which Husseri reacted against. 2. The striking similarity at the level of formal ontology between Descartes' simple and complex natures and Husseri's part-whole theor\'. 3. A clarification of the Cartesian sense of methodical doubt and how Husserl's mistaking of this shaped the initial formulation of the reduction. 4. Convergence in the maturation of the primitive notion of intuition as "clear and distinct seeing" and "seeing of essences" for both thinkers. 5. An analysis of the modes of methodical doubt, in terms of steps in the cognitive act of doubting, and not merely in the content of that which is doubted. 6. Far-reaching divergences in that Descartes was motivated to establish with scientific certain!}' an entirely new worid of being, whereas Husserl was concerned to disclose an entirely new sense of the world. As such, thematic convergences between Descartes and Husserl are not due to accidental intersections of interest, nor are they curiosities of the comparative method in historical research. These parallels are intrinsic and systematic due to an overarching congruence in their \isions of the starting point, methodological procedures, and reaction to pseudo-scientific matters-of-fact in the founding of a genuine philosophical project. DESCARTES, HUSSERL AND RADICAL CONVERSION Paul S. MacDonald The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Submitted in fijlfillment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Philosophy University of Durham November 1996 1 3 JAN 1997 CONTENTS 1. Introduction: Convergence and Divergence 6 2. 17th C. Skepticism versus 19th C. Empirical Psychology 31 3. Order of Reasons versus Order of Essences; or. Philosophy's Path and Science's Building 85 4. Simple & Complex Natures and Part-Whole Theory 115 5. Cartesian Ideas: Doubtful Matters and Acts of Doubting 150 6. Methodical Doubt and the Phenomenological Reduction 185 7. Intuition as Seeing with the Mind's Eye 229 8. Conclusion: The Notion of Radical Conversion 271 Bibliography: J 7th and 20th Century Studies 298 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To Prof. David Cooper and Prof. E. J. Lowe, Universit}' of Durham, for their unflagging support and encouragement over the course of this research. One could not wish for better supervision on a wide- ranging and ambitious project. Their detailed criticisms and suggestions, as well as the scholarly standards set in their own works, have made this a better piece of work than it would have been otherwise. To Prof Peter Simons and Mr. Chris Long who each read the entire typescript and made many invaluable suggestions. On this first page, written at the very end, I can do no more to express my respect and gratihide than to ofiFer this work to the philosophical community. To the "Thought Gang" - Martin Connor, Stuart Hanscomb, Da\ id Mossley and Barry Stobbart - - the best of friends, stout fellows, through many seminars, pub sessions, and late-night discussions. Their friendship has made a solitary endeavour much less lonely and far more enjoyable. To Fiona Bichard, for her kindness and good humour, but most of all for her love and good faith. ABBREVIATIONS Editions of Descartes' Works: CSM. I, II. The Philosophical Writings of Descartes, two vols, trans, by John Cottingham, R.Stootho£f & D. Murdoch. Cambridge Univ. Press. 1984-85. CSM. III. The Correspondence of Descartes, trans, by above; includes A. Kenny's Descartes' Philosophical Letters. [O.xford Univ. Press. 1970] Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991. AT Oeuvres de Descartes, par Charles Adam & Paul Tannerv . new ed. 12 vols. Paris, 1964-76. Editions of Husserl's Works: CM Cartesian Meditations, trans, by Dorion Cairns. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1973. Crisis The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, trans, by David Carr. Northwestern Univ. Press, 1970. Early Early Writings in the Philosophy of Logic and Mathematics, trans, by Dallas Willard. Kluwer Academic, 1993. EJ Experience and Judgment. Rev. & ed. by Ludwig Landgrebe. trans, by J. S. Churchill & Karl Ameriks. Northwestern Univ. Press, 1973. FTL Formal and Transcendental Logic, trans, by Dorion Cairns. The Hague: NijhofiF, 1969. HSW Husserl: Shorter Works, ed. by Peter McCormick & F. A. Elliston. Univ. Notre Dame, 1982. Ideas I Ideas First Book: General Introduction to a Pure Phenomenology, trans, by Fred Kersten. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1982. Ideas II Ideas Second Book: Studies in the Phenomenology of Constitution, trans, by R. Rojcewicz & A. Schuwer. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1989. Ideas III Ideas Third Book: Phenomenology and the Foundations of the Sciences, trans, by T. E. Klein & W. E. Pohl. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1980. IP The Idea of Phenomenology, trans, by W. P. Alston & G. Nakhnikian. The Hague, 1964. LI Logical Investigations, two vols, trans, by J. N. Findlay. Routledge, 1970. PP Phenomenological Psychology, trans, by J. Scanlon. The Hague: Nijhofif, 1977. PL The Paris Lectures, trans, by Peter Kostenbaum, The Hague: NijhofiF, 1967. Time The Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time, trans, by J. B. Brough. Kluwer Academic, 1991. HUS Husserliana: Gesammelte Werke. ed. by W. Biemel. M. Biemel et al. The Hague, 1950-95 vols. I - XXIX. The closeness of the network of which this nexus [within ihc Meditations] is constructed, and the e.\treme poly\alence that results from each of its elements, imparts to the Cartesian text a unique density and intensity. Leibniz had likened God to a savant author who puts the most matter in the least volume. The comparison can be redirected, and the Descartes of the Meditations can be assimilated, for philosophy, to a Leibnizian God. .. From the small, dense and laconic book of the Meditations, which has often been ill understood, in spite - if not because - of the accumulation of commentaries, has flowed the rivers of modem philosophy. When a book is that rich, it suffices for us to glimpse only a small part of its riches, in order for it to manifest an infinite wealth. Martial Gueroult The understanding of the beginnings is to be gained fully only by starting wth science as given in its present-day form, looking back at its development. But in the absence of an understanding of the beginnings, the development is mute as a development of meaning. Thus we have no other choice than to proceed forward and backward in a zig-zag pattern: the one must help the other in an interplay. Relative clarification on one side brings some elucidation on the other, which in turn casts light back on the former. In this sort of historical consideration and critique, then, which begins with Galileo (and immediately afterwards with Descartes) and must follow the temporal order, we ne\ertheless have constantly to make historical leaps which are thus not digressions but necessities. Edmund Husserl CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE Few thinkers in the 20th Century have had such a profound influence on philosophy and related disciplines as Edmund Husserl (1859 -1938). Through his work and teaching, he has shaped many of the areas of inquiry and tools for analysis which today occupy prime places in the philosophy curriculum. It is relatively uncontenuous to observe, as several recent writers have done, that a list of his students and their students reads like a who's who of 20th century continental philosophy. Husserl's prodigious influence extended far beyond the scope of standard philosophical research and motivated ground• breaking reorientations in a variety of endeavours. His lectures, writings and personal contacts had a critical impact on Gestalt Psychology. Structural Linguistics, the French New' Anthropology, and Existentialist Literature, amongst others. The single figure to whom Husserl accords unreserved respect, to whom he returns again and again over a thirty year period is Rene Descartes.