Reduction and Givenness: Investigations of Husserl, Heidegger, and Phenomenology

by Jean-Luc Marion, Thomas A. Carlson (Translator)

Through careful analysis of phenomenological texts by Husserl and Heidegger, Marion argues for the necessity of a third phenomenological reduction that concerns what is fully implied but left largely unthought by the phenomenologies of both Husserl and the unconditional "givenness" of the phenomenon. At once historically grounded and radically new, this phenomenology of givenness has revitalized phenomenological debate in Europe and the U.S.

Genres: Philosophy

261 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Jean-Luc Marion is a French philosopher and Catholic theologian whose work bridges phenomenology, modern philosophy, and theology. A former student of Jacques Derrida, he studied at the University of Nanterre, the Sorbonne, and the École normale supérieure under Derrida, Louis Althusser, and Gilles Deleuze, while privately exploring theology with figures such as Louis Bouyer, Jean Daniélou, Henri de Lubac, and Hans Urs von Balthasar. His early academic career included assistant lectureships at the Sorbonne and a doctorate completed in 1980, after which he taught at the University of Poitiers and later directed philosophy programs at the University Paris X – Nanterre and the University of Paris IV (Sorbonne). Marion has also held visiting and endowed professorships at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he served as John Nuveen Professor and later as Andrew Thomas and Grace McNichols Greeley Professor of Catholic Studies, retiring in 2022. Elected to the Académie Française in 2008, he delivered the 2014 Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow and has received numerous honors including the Premio Joseph Ratzinger, the Karl Jaspers Prize, and the Grand Prix de philosophie de l’Académie française. Marion’s philosophical contributions focus on the concept of givenness, radicalizing phenomenology to explore the “saturated phenomenon,” which exceeds the capacities of cognition, and examining love through intentionality, inspired by Emmanuel Levinas. His major works include God Without Being, Réduction et donation, Étant donné, and Du surcroît, addressing idolatry, love, the gift, and the limits of perception. Marion’s thought has deeply influenced contemporary debates in philosophy of religion, phenomenology, and theology, emphasizing how phenomena show themselves prior to consciousness, how love implicates the invisible other, and how the gift and givenness constitute the foundational conditions for understanding being, knowledge, and relationality.

Reviews

[Gab Nug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my graduate thesis.

This is my first time fully engaging not only Marion, but also someone's phenomenological system/method. Had I previously studied Husserl, Heidegger, or both, it's likely I would've gotten much more out of this work. This text traces the historical development of phenomenological principles through Husserl and Heidegger as the two most prominent phenomenologists, and weighs them against each other. In the midst of such a task, he also shows how both systems fall short in truly actualizing the immense possibility that they opened up. Marion concludes in offering his own phenomenological understanding and reduction which both incorporates and exceeds those of Husserl and Heidegger. While the writing at times was borderline indecipherable (due to the peculiarly phenomenological vocabulary; untranslated words/phrases in German, Greek, French, Latin; parenthetical clauses interrupting already massive sentences; and numerous tmetic words), this was truly an enjoyable read. If it weren't, I don't know if I could've stayed up until 2am these past few nights tackling the concepts contained therein. Diving head first into a contemporary and innovative phenomenological work was simultaneously challenging and enriching. This text is the first of Marion's phenomenological "trilogy," and I'm enthusiastic to move onto the next.

[Edward Butler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm being a little hard on this book, but it really disappointed me, starting with a bang and ending with a whimper. While the overall structure of a succession of increasingly radical reductions has some merit, especially for the project of integrating phenomenology into the preceding history of metaphysics, Marion's elucidation of this structure just becomes progressively less and less convincing, with his account of Husserl coming off the best, his account of Heidegger serving as much to remind one of Heidegger's weaknesses relative to Husserl as to advance the inquiry, while the final part of the book, which argues for a third reduction to a structure of the call, consists almost entirely of the most shameless special pleading, and would require a great deal of reconstruction in order to live up to whatever promise it has.

[Jessie Joshua Lino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phenomenology gets more exciting than ever the moment a "third kind of reduction" was introduced.