The guiding dictum of phenomenology is "to the things themselves. " This saying conveys a sense that the "things," the "phenomena" with which we are confronted and into which we seek some insight are not as immediately accessible as may be imagined. Phenomena, however, are often hidden not by their distance from us, but by their very proximity, by the fact that they are taken for granted as being self-evident and understood by all. Even the most common, everyday phenomena and the words used to describe them often reveal, upon closer inspection, a degree of complexity which had previously been unsuspected. Upon interrogation, that which had been taken to be self-evident and widely understood shows itself otherwise; assumed self-evidence frequently masks unintelligibility and common understanding can be a sign of a lack of understanding. One phenomenon which is extremely proximate in our times is the phenomenon of "crisis. " To be sure, one can hardly avoid the word these it abound in periodicals and newspapers, but also, in days. Not only does the learned journals of medicine, political science, economics, art, and law, barely does an edition appear without the discussion of a crisis of one sort or another within these respective fields. One is tempted to remark, along with Umberto Eco, that "crisis sells well. "l One is also inclined to be suspicious of the collective malaise of academics.

This volume sheds light upon the omnipresent discussion of crisis' in our times by returning to the thought of the two philosophers upon which much of this talk is consciously (or unconsciously) based, namely, Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. By tracing the narrative of the crisis' from Husserl's early treatment of arithmetic and logic through to Heidegger's meditations on the essence of technology, the author not only proposes a unified reading of both Husserl's and Heidegger's work, but points to important elements of the often underplayed continuity between these phenomenologists. At the same time, the concept of crisis' also illustrates the difference between Husserl and Heidegger. Though both define the crisis as one of forgetting', and both view this forgetting' as a matter of philosophical responsibility, essential divergence emerges in their interpretation of this phenomenon. Three questions uncover these points of convergence and divergence. First, does not the forgetfulness' reveal itself as a type of felix culpa, a necessary decay that now reveals itself in a positive light, indeed, as the precondition of history itself

The Crisis of the European Sciences is Husserl's last and most influential book, written in Nazi Germany where he was discriminated against as a Jew. It incisively identifies the urgent moral and existential crises of the age and defends the relevance of philosophy at a time of both scientific progress and political barbarism. It is also a response to Heidegger, offering Husserl's own approach to the problems of human finitude, history and culture. The Crisis introduces Husserl's influential notion of the 'life-world' – the pre-given, familiar environment that includes both 'nature' and 'culture' – and offers the best introduction to his phenomenology as both method and philosophy. Dermot Moran's rich and accessible introduction to the Crisis explains its intellectual and political context, its philosophical motivations and the themes that characterize it. His book will be invaluable for students and scholars of Husserl's work and of phenomenology in general.

The controversy of flux and stasis as the groundwork of reality of Greek ancient philosophy reached its crux in the all encompassing doctrine of the logos by Heraclitus of Ephesus. It centers upon human soul in its role with the cosmos. Philosophy of the Occident corroborating Greek insights with the progress of culture in numerous interpretations (Kant, Kierkegaard, Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Ricoeur...), presented in this collection has neglected the cosmic sphere. While contemporary development of science revealed its grounding principles (papers by Grandpierre, Kule and Trutty-Coohill) the ancient logos fully emerges. Thus, logos hitherto hidden in our commerce with earth is revealed in its intertwinings with the cosmos through the trajectories of the phenomenology/ontopoiesis of life (Tymieniecka). The crucial link between the soul and the cosmos, in a new geo-cosmic horizon, is thus being retrieved.

Steven Crowell has been for many years a leading voice in debates on twentieth-century European philosophy. This volume presents thirteen recent essays that together provide a systematic account of the relation between meaningful experience (intentionality) and responsiveness to norms. They argue for a new understanding of the philosophical importance of phenomenology, taking the work of Husserl and Heidegger as exemplary, and introducing a conception of phenomenology broad enough to encompass the practices of both philosophers. Crowell discusses Husserl's analyses of first-person authority, the semantics of conscious experience, the structure of perceptual content, and the embodied subject, and shows how Heidegger's interpretation of the self addresses problems in Husserl's approach to the normative structure of meaning. His volume will be valuable for upper-level students and scholars interested in phenomenological approaches to philosophical questions in both the European and the analytic traditions.

Understood historically, culturally, politically, geographically, or philosophically, the idea of Europe and notion of European identity conjure up as much controversy as consensus. The mapping of the relation between ideas of Europe and their philosophical articulation and contestation has never benefitted from clear boundaries, and if it is to retain its relevance to the challenges now facing the world, it must become an evolving conceptual landscape of critical reflection. The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Europe provides an outstanding reference work for the exploration of Europe in its manifold conceptions, narratives, institutions, and values. Comprising twenty-seven chapters by a group of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into three parts: Europe of the philosophers Concepts and controversies Debates and horizons. Essential reading for students and researchers in philosophy, politics, and European studies, the Handbook will also be of interest to those in related disciplines such as sociology, religion, and European history and history of ideas.