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ix

Editors Foreword

Few phi losophers have had as broad and deep an impact on coming

generations of philosophers as Edmund Husser l. Most notably, he was the

founder and a major practitioner of phenom enology, which has left an

indelible mark on European, American and world philosophy over the past

century. He was also among those thinkers who turned inherited philosophy

upside down as he rethought many ideas that were generally accep ted and

replaced them with others which have since become generally accepted by

many, and fiercely rejected by others, both healthy things in the world of

philosop hy. Coming from mathematics , which is not that common among

philosophers, he added a bit of rigor, which was sometimes lacking, and his

ideas grad ually impacted other fields, including psychology, ethics and

aesthetics. Alas, while his significance can hardly be denied, Husserl is not

the easiest philosopher for laymen and even scholars to understand, and his

vocabulary and concepts can do with some explanation.

Thisalong with his significanceis a good reason for a handy guide likethis Historical Dic tionary of Husserls Philosophy. It does not package

Husserl for the reader, who can then attempt to master its contents; rather, it

helps readers to sort out what they have seen in Husserls own works or books

on him by o thers. The b rief chronology already offers insight into an often

difficult trajectory, with many ups and down, the most serious of these being

driven out of Germany by the Nazis. His career is traced again in the

introduction, this time focusing on his major activities, writings, and thoughts,

a summary which should be referred to periodically. But the most important

section is the dictionary, with hundreds of entries on his major publications,other philosophers he interacted with, and above all the key concepts many

of them new to Husserlwhich are necessary to gain more from reading him.

Perhaps the second most important section is the bibliography, which leads

those interested to a broad range of related works, his own and commentaries

on his philosophy.

Few have dealt with Husserl and his philosophy as long or as extensively

as the author o f this volume, John J. Drummond. Already in 197 5, his

dissertation dealt with Husserls phenomenology of perception. Since then he

has taught at several colleges and universities and is presently professor of

philosophy at Fordham University. Alongside courses and lectures, he has

written a large number o f art icles and a boo k of his own, Husserlian