Sixth Cartesian Meditation: The Idea of a Transcendental Theory of Method

by Eugen Fink, Edmund Husserl (Reader)

"Ronald Bruzina's superb translation . . . makes available in English a text of singular historical and systematic importance for phenomenology." ―Husserl Studies

". . . a pivotal document in the development of phenomenology . . . essential reading for students of phenomenology twentieth-century thought." ―Word Trade

" . . . an invaluable addition to the corpus of Husserl scholarship. More than simply a scholarly treatise, however, it is the result of Fink's collaboration with Husserl during the last ten years of Husserl's life. . . . This truly essential work in phenomenology should find a prominent place alongside Husserl's own works. For readers interested in phenomenology―and in Husserl in particular―it cannot be recommended highly enough." ―Choice

" . . . a thorough critique of Husserl's transcendental phenomenology . . . raises many new questions. . . . a classic." ―J. N. Mohanty

A foundational text in Husserlian phenomenology, written in 1932 and now available in English for the first time.

Genres: Philosophy

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1995

About the author

Fink was born in 1905 as the son of a government official in Germany. He spent his first school years with an uncle who was a catholic priest. Fink attended a gymnasium in Konstanz where he succeeded with his extraordinary memory. After his graduation exam in 1925, he studied philosophy, history, German language and economics, initially at Münster and Berlin and then in Freiburg with Edmund Husserl.

Husserl's assistant, he was a representative of phenomenological idealism and later a follower of Martin Heidegger. He approached the problem of Being as a manifestation of the cosmic movement with Man being a participant in this movement. Fink called the philosophical problems pre-questions, that will lead to the true philosophy by the way of an ontological practice.