ABSTRACT
We have learned from our analysis of Husserl’s letters both to Georg Misch and Dietrich Mahnke that Husserl conceived phenomenology as radical, universal “human science” and for this reason placed enormous importance on the force of Wilhelm Dilthey’s thinking on his own. His 1905 encounter with Dilthey initiated an impulse in his thinking that ran from his work in the Logical Investigations through the Ideas to the developments of method that took place during the teens and twenties. However, Husserl never adequately articulates the nature of these developments to Misch or Mahnke. So it is to these developments that we turn now to examine. The task of this chapter is twofold. First, we will examine the developments of Husserl’s thinking as it evolved in the fi rst and second decade of the twentieth century in order to understand more clearly the vaguely defi ned impulse he mentions to Misch. His description of conscious intentionality changes during these years from a structural model typical of his earlier works such as the Logical Investigations and Ideas I to a genetic or temporal model of intentionality articulated later. In our examination of this development, we shall see that this new temporal model is not fully consistent with the earlier intentional model. Yet if it is true-as Husserl asserts is the case-that throughout his life he strove toward a unitary goal in his phenomenological analyses, then perhaps we may be able to fi nd a unity to the phenomenological problem articulated in these developments. However, we must be alert to the possibility that the development of the later temporal model of intentionality introduces insurmountable contradictions in Husserl’s method of analysis. This, in fact, may account for the inconsistencies which seemingly defi ne his research manuscripts. Consequently, this leads us to the second aspect of this chapter’s task. As we articulate Husserl’s development of method and the inconsistency this introduces, we will also provide an explanation of what motivates him to develop this new model of intentionality.
