A Study On Husserl’s Theory Of "Space" Constitution

That Husserl began his investigation into space as early as 1886 is due to the fact that space is intimately related to mathematics on the one hand and his contemporary psychologists focused and studied on psychological genesis of spatial presentation on the other. Hence, for Husserl, the question of space becomes an entrance into philosophical contention, furthermore, Husserl’s reflections on space persist his philosophical development.Demarcated by advent of the intricate analysis of essence of consciousness in the Logical Investigation in 1900 and the method of phenomenological reduction (a triad unity of epoche, reduction and constitution) after 1905, Husserl’s study on constitution of space can be divided into Pre-constitution phase and Constitution phase. Constitution encompasses the constitution of perceptual space and that of geometrical space.In Pre-constitution phase(1886-1900) Husserl tried to formulate a philosophy of space, which involves the question of genesis of spatial representation, polysemy of spatial terms, intuitive space, geometrical space as well as the relation of the latter two aspects, he thus concluded that space was the product of experience. Among these questions, the question as to the relation of space and intuition, as well as that of intuitive space and geometrical space ran through his subsequent research, forming the major part of Husserl’s thinking on space ever since. What is worth noting is that Husserl mentions Kant from time to time and starts his contention with him on the issue of space.The study on constitution of perceptual space is developed in Thing and Space (1907) which comes after Logical Investigations. It proceeds after the investigation into the essence of consciousness and is based on the theory of phenomenological reductions. Meanwhile, Husserl’s analysis of perceptual space is conducted on several levels.Firstly, in respect to a single entity and its extension, Husserl dwells on the various constitutional effects its different sensuous qualities have on space forms. For instance, the materialized visual and tactual determinations have primary constitutional effects on space forms, whereas accessory determinations like auditory, olfactory and gustatory sensation merely have a secondary effect on the constitution of space forms since these accessory determinations can exert their effects on the basis of spatial three-dimensional things constituted by visual and tactual sensations.Secondly, Husserl put forward his theory of perceptual field and kinesthetic sense on the basis of extending to the material surrounding of a single thing. In contrast to space perception of a single thing, field as an extension of pre-experience, not only provides more and extensive exhibiting materials belonging to different things, it also provides locality, schema and size, etc. However, field is not space per se, instead, it is a exhibiting field for all spatial things, hence for all material things. Therefore, the introduction of field enables the investigation of material things in their surrounding world and accordingly enables the consideration as to perceptive ego and its kinesthetic constitution of space. Furthermore, the participation of kinesthetic sense enables space to break away from the finitity of field and move towards the constitution of infinite general space, to break away from the two-dimension of field to constitute the three-dimension space.Husserl has performed phenomenological reduction on the psychological concept of kinesthetic sense, so the kinesthetic sense in this sense is merely related to the awareness of actual or potential action in the sense of’I move’. Differing from visual, tactual, auditory and olfactory sense and other sensations, kinesthetic sense belongs to a new category of sensation. There is not any qualities correspond to this particular sensation of kinesthetic sense in a material thing and all kinesthetic senses have no exhibiting effects on any qualities of a material thing, yet kinesthetic sense is a necessary condition for such a exhibition. Husserl offers an analysis of constitution of visual field in terms of movement of eye and body, and comes up accordingly with the following conclusions:the constitution of three-dimension space, on the foundation of static one-dimension perceptual field, is formed by a mixture of a one-dimension system constituted by drawing near and moving away and a circular two-dimension system constituted at all stage of turning.The constitution of geometrical space is, in essence, the question of how geometrical space comes into being on the basis of intuitive space, i.e, the relation between geometrical space and intuitive space. Around 1892 and 1893, Husserl already insightfully themaises the relation between geometrical space and intuitive space, but it is only in his Crisis that Husserl has elucidated a complete correlation between the abstract geometrical, ideational space and intuitive space. Such a complete correlation includes idealized ascent and a descent of how pure geometry guides practice by means of measuring technique. This question, on the microscopic level, involves the formation of exact sciences, which is based on the given concrete items and mediated by the concept of type; on the macroscopic level, it involves the formation of exact sciences, which is based on the intuitive life-world and mediated by descriptive and taxonomic sciences.In all, Husserl has achieved his theoretical contribution in the domain of constitution perceptual space and geometrical space in virtue of his admittedly unprecedented, profound and detailed analysis of consciousness and his invention of the method of phenomenological reduction. These new theories have, to some extent, promoted our understanding of space. Nevertheless, Husserl’s theory of space itself has its own problems. For instance, it is confined to the cognitive correlation between space and human consciousness, his avoidance of how kinesthetic sense originates. The reason accountable for these problems is that his theory of space is founded on epistemology. According to Husserl, the study on space constitution is mere a typical example of phenomenological, epistemological investigation. This means that his study on space constitution is attributed to epistemology. Both his contention with Kant on the question of space and the problems he has encountered in respect to space constitution have to traced back to his epistemology. Therefore, if a new notion of space is to emerge, there has to be a breakthrough or a critique of Husserl’s epistemology so as to come up with a new philosophy and build a new notion of space in light of such a new philosophical thinking. Philosophers after Husserl, like Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, have made such attempt in one way or another.