ABSTRACT
This chapter reconstructs the evolution of Husserl's conception of the relation between the theory of knowledge, natural science, and metaphysics from the early 1890s to his Ideas. It focuses on the evolution of Husserl's ideas concerning the first layer of questions, and, in particular, concerning the relation between the theory of knowledge, natural science, and metaphysics. The chapter provides a comparison between Husserl's first reflections on space and the predominant views of the time, but rather to reconstruct how he framed the metaphysical issues connected to the critique of scientific knowledge. Then the chapter presents an early account of the specific kind of conceptual work necessary to overcome the limitations of the knowledge afforded by natural science.
