ABSTRACT
This chapter dwells upon the founder and the best-known representative of the phenomenological approach in sociology, Alfred Schutz. Husserl's phenomenological teachings led Schutz to study the constitution of the meaning of action in subjects who act in the everyday life world, and interpret it by intentional acts of consciousness. In keeping with Husserl, Schutz investigates on how subjects, starting from their lived experiences of consciousness, constitute a world provided with a meaning, and take it for granted during their everyday life, considering it as an undisputed or paramount reality. Schutz's reception has produced a great deal of literature, often written by scholars who were close to Husserl's phenomenology, or in any case knew it very well. Schutz's sociological thought has directly impacted on a limited number of scholars and followers, who often belong to Garfinkel's ethnomethodological school.
