Husserl's Development Of Universal Theories In The History Of Western Philosophy

Universal is an everlasting theme in the western philosophy history.The differences about universals problems can date back to Plato and Aristotle in Ancient Greek philosophy,who have different views about the relationship between universals and individual things.The main performance of universals problems in Middle Ages is a debate between Realism and Nominalism.The most detailed researches were discussed in the epistemology of early modern philosophy.Universal theories were divided into individualism universal theory in empiricism and holism universal theory in rationalism.Individualism universal theory insisted that universals came from the abstraction of individual things.Locke used the abstract ideas as the source of universal which are used in cognition process.Berkeley was opposed to the abstract ideas,he proposed specific concept instead.As a extreme empiricist,Hume denied all the universals represented by causality.In his opinion,universals are similar individual things in fact.Holism universal theory maintained that we should put away special ingredients in the experiential knowledge to get universals,whose representative personage was Kant.Kant rebuilt fundamentality of universals with the twelve congenital categories,whose opinions about universals are the exact opposites of individualism universal theory.But these theories have their drawbacks.Bergson had found a vicious circle between Realism and Nominalism.On the one hand,the individual things can be understood only when we obtain the category concept which they belongs to.On the other hand,the category concept can be obtained only when we select and abstract the correct individual things of the same kind.Bergson Circle clearly shows that all the universal theories in the western philosophy are lost in theoretical difficult position.Realism and Nominalism will all come across logic difficulties in entirety describe about the generation of universal in experience.Universals individual things constitute mutual necessary conditions,not simply derives one from another.Bergson circle points out the problem which Husserl's universal theory will face and overcome.Only grasping the two sides at the same time,this circular argument is likely to be resolved.Husserl brought new universal theories which were different from individualismuniversal theory and holism universal theory.Husserl expanded the content of experience with the help of universal.In Husserl's opinion,experience did not mean individual perception only just like the early modern philosopher's views.Husserl pointed out that what experience contains not only individual things in sensation,but also fields with individual things.Correspondingly,there are inner horizons and external horizons in experience.The present and the not present parts of perceptual object,the perceptual object and other individual things in the same field are all in a unity of experience.From this argue,Husserl consider there are three layers in the experience.They are perception horizon,close horizon and distant horizon.The latter two horizons were attained by the model form and the �as-if� form of familiar things.Experience become a indivisible perception field in interaction,not only individual things as usual.So universals and individuals constitute a whole complete structure.In the adumbration of perception,the known and unknown parts of the individual things were in the possibility of the unity of experience,which was called �uncertain universal�.There were always types and universal understandings with our perception about individual things in experience,even before the perception begins we had already known it.These types and universal understandings were described as uncertain certainty.Husserl achieved�Vorwissen�(which means know something earlier)with the help of uncertain universal,which were not derived from the perception.Therefore Husserl jumped out of Bergson circle by means of �Vorwissen�.Husserl's eidetic intuition methods described the generation of universal in experience.There were two essences in the eidetic intuition methods,empirical essences and pure essences.The empirical essences were produced by synthetically associate,which was occurred in passiveness and then was grasped as the theme.The intuition about pure essences was accomplished with variation towards initial fact.Methods of variation emphasized high degree freedom,which meant we must get rid of constraint form experience completely.By distinguishing variation and invariant content,we can see pure essences as Eidos.