EDMUND HUSSERL’S PHENOMENOLOGICAL REDUCTION AS A QUEST FOR CERTAINTY OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE

Abstract

The historical discourse surrounding the feasibility, essence, validity, and scope of knowledge stands as one of the most ancient debates, addressed by nearly every esteemed philosopher. As Aristotle posited in his Metaphysics, inherent in all individuals is the yearning for knowledge. This innate desire propels individuals to engage in a profound quest for knowledge, often resulting in a heightened susceptibility to misinformation. In the current era marked by rapid advancements, particularly influenced by social media, a culture of post-truth and relativism prevails. In line with this, Edmund Husserl’s phenomenological reduction represents a systematic philosophical method designed to secure the foundations of human knowledge against skepticism and relativism. He employs the technique of epoché by which he brackets both cultural and natural assumptions in order to access the phenomena as they present themselves in pure consciousness. In the second stage which is eidetic reduction, he identifies the essential structures of experience that are beyond cultural and historical particularities. The quest for certainty arises through this methodological turn of returning to the things themselves, by prioritizing the universal structures of intentionality and consciousness. This paper uses hermeneutical method to unravel the techniques of Husserl by breaking down the two important terms of epoché and eidetic reduction for a better understanding and then applying them in combating the culture of relativism. By emphasizing the roles of the lifeworld and intersubjectivity, this paper offers a kind of middle path between foundationalism and relativism. It reconciles the necessity of perspective with the aspiration of shared and stable meaning which leads to objectivity.