ABSTRACT
Much of the scholarly literature on the philosophy of Edith Stein focuses on her later philosophical project, which sought to synthesize both phenomenology and Christian philosophy to arrive at a fuller understanding of being. Recently, scholars and philosophers have turned to Stein’s earlier body of work, which is more strictly phenomenological. A chance encounter with George Moskiewicz, whom Stein met at her pedagogy seminar, resulted in her friend introducing her to the work of early phenomenology, especially that of Adolf Reinach and Edmund Husserl. The Phenomenological Movement was dedicated to the acquisition of knowledge about things as they appear in reality. Early phenomenologists viewed themselves as combating the predominance of positivistic and psychologistic reductionism in the sciences and philosophy. Empathy serves as the foundational act that gives us knowledge of ourselves and others as well as certain objectivities in the world, especially spiritual objects created by human will, reason, and freedom.
