Structure Phenomenology

"This open access book is the first English translation of Herbert Witzenmann's seminal work, Strukturphänomenologie, which departs from the traditional phenomenological methods of Husserl, Sartre, and Merleau-Ponty to introduce a fresh approach to the nexus of consciousness and reality. In Structure Phenomenology, Witzenmann argues for the active mental participation of humans in the emergence of everyday consciousness of all kinds. Whilst many philosophers advocating the notion of pre-reflective consciousness claim that habitual states of phenomenal consciousness must be ascribed a derivative or memorative status, even if they seem to refer to present objectivity, Witzenmann proposes an alternative first-person methodology. Through his logically grounded and experience-based approach, he contends that it is not neural processes that produce consciousness, but rather one's own preconscious rootedness in reality which can be made conscious. Influenced by the writings of Rudolf Steiner and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Witzenmann's innovative approach casts new light on a number of philosophical, psychological, and scientific issues: from being and becoming to temporality and presence, and mind and body. Even freedom takes on a new meaning when reality is not pre-given to human consciousness, but is rather a result of human participation in the basic process. This annotated translation makes Witzenmann's text accessible to an English audience for the first time and, with a comprehensive editorial introduction by Johannes Wagemann, situates his ground-breaking insights within the development of phenomenology"--