The Origins of the Horizon in Husserl’s Phenomenology

Saulius Geniusas

Jul 2012 · Contributions to Phenomenology Book 67 · Springer Science & Business Media

About this ebook

This volume is the first book-length analysis of the problematic concept of the ‘horizon’ in Edmund Husserl’s phenomenology, as well as in phenomenology generally. A recent arrival on the conceptual scene, the horizon still eludes robust definition. The author shows in this authoritative exploration of the topic that Husserl, the originator of phenomenology, placed the notion of the horizon at the centre of philosophical enquiry. He also demonstrates the rightful centrality of the concept of the horizon, all too often viewed as an imprecise metaphor of tangential significance. His systematic analysis deploys both early and late work by Husserl, as well as hitherto unpublished manuscripts. Opening out the question to include that of the origins of the horizon, the book explores the horizon as philosophical theme or notion, as a figure of intentionality, and as a signification of one’s consciousness of the world—our ‘world-horizon’. It argues that the central philosophical significance of the problematic of the horizon makes itself apparent in realizing how this problematic enriches our philosophical understanding of subjectivity. Systematic, thorough, and revealing, this study of the significance of a core concept in phenomenology will be relevant not only to the phenomenological community, but also to anyone interested in the intersections of phenomenology and other philosophical traditions, such as hermeneutics and pragmatism.​

About the author

Saulius Geniusas was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 1977. He received his B.A. in Philosophy at Vilnius University in Lithuania (1999), his M.A. in Philosophy at McMaster University in Canada (2002), and his PhD in Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in the USA (2008). In 2006-2007, Geniusas received a research grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) that enabled him to spend an academic year at the Husserl Archive at the University of Cologne. During his graduate studies in New York, Geniusas received a few teaching fellowships that enabled him to offer courses in Philosophy at Eugene Lang College, the New School for Liberal Arts. In 2008 Geniusas defended his dissertation, The Origins of the Horizon in Husserl’s Phenomenology, at the New School for Social Research. His dissertation was awarded the Hans Jonas Prize. Still in 2008, Geniusas joined the Department of Philosophy and Religion at James Madison University in Virginia, USA, as an Assistant Professor in Philosophy. At James Madison University, Geniusas offers upper-level courses in Continental philosophy, especially in phenomenology and hermeneutics. Geniusas has edited a few volumes in phenomenology as well as published close to twenty articles in a number of philosophy journals and Anthologies. His publications address the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Nietzsche, and a number of other philosophers that are generally grouped under the heading of European philosophy.