The Cambridge Companion to Husserl: (Cambridge Companions to Philosophy)

The essays in this volume explore the full range of Husserl's work and reveal just how systematic his philosophy is. There are treatments of his most important contributions to phenomenology, intentionality and the philosophy of mind, epistemology, the philosophy of language, ontology, and mathematics. An underlying theme of the volume is a resistance to the idea, current in much intellectual history, of a radical break between 'modern' and 'postmodern' philosophy, with Husserl as the last of the great Cartesians. Husserl is seen in this volume as a philosopher constantly revising his system in order to be able to integrate philosophy with ideas emanating from science and culture. The so-called rift between analytic and 'continental' philosophy emerges as an artificial construct.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Barry Smith and David Woodruff Smith; 1. The development of Husserl's thought J. N. Mohanty; 2. The phenomenological dimension Jaakko Hintikka; 3. Meaning and language Peter Simons; 4. Knowledge Dallas Willard; 5. Perception Kevin Mulligan; 6. Transcendental idealism Herman Philipse; 7. Mind and body David Woodruff Smith; 8. Common sense Barry Smith; 9. Mathematics Richard Tieszen; 10. Part-whole Kit Fine.

Review :
"The essays do a good job at demonstrating the continued significance and importance of Husserl's thought, and though they might not be accessible to some who are not already familiar with Husserl, they are consistently of high quality." Choice "This weighty and distinguished collection explores the whole range of Husserl's writings, his posthumous manuscripts as well as his published works." International Philosophical Quarterly "Proponents of the untenability of the gap between Continental and analytic philosophy will approve of this excellent collection. The editors have collected ten articles by authors who are both excellent philosophers and eminent Husserl scholars....These essays are nearly uniform in their clarity, logical rigor, thorough scholarship, and historical awareness....The Husserl of these essays is a rigorous and original thinker whose thought casts a critical light on a wide range of contemporary issues....The editor's readable and insightful introduction makes it an excellent tool for introducing Husserl's philosophy. Helpful critical bibliographies accompany almost all of the essays." Ethics " Without a doubt, the editors have collected an impressive array of substantive essays dealing with many elements of Husserl's thought. Moreover, while avoiding any oversimplification of both the complexity and the development of Husserl's though, the texts gathered together here do yield a certain unified and coherent picture of Husserl as a 'philosopher in his own right'(2). Indeed, Husserl appears as a 'seminal figure in the evolution from traditional philosophy to the characteristic philosophical concerns of the late twentieth century..." R. Philip Buckley. Philosophy in Review