Method and Subjectivity

A Consideration of the Renewal of Phenomenological Science of Subjectivity

Abstract

In recent decades, attention to the phenomenological method in the field of qualitative research has increased. This article addresses the relationship between phenomenology and psychology and how methodology and subjectivity are interconnected in the foundations of scientific research. The first part of the article discusses the possibility of applying phenomenology in qualitative research, the lack of uniformity in the interpretations of phenomenological contributions to science, and the risk of incompatibility with the objective dimension of experimental science. The second part examines the relationship between phenomenology and psychology, specifically the difference between phenomenological psychology and transcendental phenomenology, as well as the importance of the Amsterdam lectures for understanding Husserl’s philosophy. The third part delves into Husserl’s epistemological critique and how this led to the development of phenomenological psychology as a science based on subjective apriori. The noetic and noematic components of experience, including the embodied self as the ego pole of every intentional phenomenon, are discussed, as well as how phenomenological psychology can serve as a basis for building a rigorously scientific psychology. In summary, this article addresses the complexity of the relationship between phenomenology and psychology, as well as the need for a careful understanding of methodology and subjectivity in phenomenological research.