As the founding father of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl has been hugely influential in the development of contemporary continental philosophy. Burt Hopkins's new book is a significant and important work of fresh interpretation and synthesis of the whole of Husserl's phenomenology as it is presented in the published corpus that will be required reading for all students and scholars of phenomenology. The first part of the book explores his early investigations into the formation of mathematical and logical concepts in our cognitive life, which sparked the development of his method of "descriptive psychology". In Part 2 Hopkins investigates his Cartesian formulation of conceiving phenomenology as an attempt to overcome deficiencies in both empiricism and rationalism. Part 3 discusses Husserl's analysis of temporal experience and his consideration of the historical aspects of cultural formation to arrive at a mature formulation of transcendental phenomenology. By following Husserl's own personal trajectory in this way and his own attempts at explaining his approach, Hopkins is able to show the unity of Husserl's philosophical enterprise from beginning to end. Hopkins situates Husserl's salient discoveries in relation to traditional philosophy, in particular to the beginnings of ancient Greek and modern philosophy, and shows how Husserl's influential critics – Heidegger and Derrida – have misinterpreted Husserl's project.

"A significant contribution to our understanding of Husserl, one that offers an original and challenging approach. A ground-breaking and important book."

Dermot Moran